Entwined
by The Yuri Fangirl
Summary: Zoey Montgomery is all set to start her first day at a new school as a regular, normal girl...except for the fact that she's recently developed the power to control the elements. When vampyres start hunting her, she soon learns that she is destined to wage a battle against an eternal evil that threatens to take over the world. So much for normal. Note: ZoeyxAphrodite pairing.
1. Welcome to Broken Arrow

Disclaimer: I don't own the House of Night series or its characters. All rights belong to P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, yadda yadda, you get the drift.

* * *

_Alright Zoey, you're starting to turn into the Barbie-clone. Just put your hands up, and back away from the mirror slowly._

Zoey Montgomery shuddered as she realized that her preening in front of the bathroom mirror for the past 15 minutes was a habit freakishly similar to that of her flighty, air-headed ditz of an older sister.

Zoey didn't mean to spend so much time obsessing over her appearance in the mirror, but today was her first day at a new school, and the fact that her long dark hair had decided to go through a rebellious phase that morning wasn't helping to ease her nervousness.

Broken Arrow, Oklahoma was her hometown, but after moving to and growing up in Oklahoma City as a kid, the little Tulsa suburb was just as new and unwelcoming as moving to a whole new state. But the Step-Loser, John Heffer (whose last name was strikingly appropriate for his personality) had been wanting to move everyone back to Broken Arrow ever since he wormed his way into Zoey's family 3 years ago. After being made an Elder of the Mindless Robot Cult (technically, they were called the People of Faith, but Zoey stood firmly by her belief that the group was secretly run by soulless robot drones), the decision to move was final, and the Heffer family spent the summer returning back to Middle-of-Nowhere, U.S.A.

Zoey had been dreading the first day of school the entire summer, wondering how she was ever going to fit in among kids who had probably known each other since middle school, maybe even earlier. They already had well-established cliques, and friendships, and memories; Zoey didn't think she could find a place in all of that.

Deciding that her hair wasn't going to cooperate any further, she finally tore herself away from the mirror and returned back to her room to gather her things. Thankfully, big sis had already left for school ages ago- -having to arrive early so she could scope out the who's who of the high school and start working her way to the top of the popular crowd- -so Zoey could obsess in front of the mirror as long as she wanted without constant knocking at the door and cries of "Zoey! Hurry up and get out of there!"

But now it was time to face the beast. Barbie-clone was gone, mom was dropping off Zoey's little brother at middle school, and Step-Loser was probably staked out at a McDonald's flicking holy water on teenagers. Alone in the house, Zoey shrugged into her backpack and made sure she had both her car and her house keys to lock up as she left. Stepping out of the front door into the pleasantly warm morning air, she was greeted by the sight of her 1966 VW Bug sitting eagerly in the driveway like a cute, loyal puppy. The neighborhood was already empty, with parents gone for work and children shipped off bright and early for the first day of the new school year. Zoey found that the quiet calmed her down a little bit, and she took a deep breath as she slid into her car.

"It's just one first day. You've handled first days plenty of times before. Nothing weird is going to happen, no one is going to find out...Just stay focused, and no one will find out..."

With that, she revved up her Bug and started down the road.

* * *

Zoey had no problem finding the school; she had made sure to look up directions a few days earlier so she could avoid driving around town in circles like a fool. By the looks of the parking lot, there were already quite a few students hanging out before classes started. Arriving early sounded like a good idea before Zoey left the house, but now that she was here she realized that she'd either have to wait in the main office like a loser until school started or aimlessly wander around and hope to avoid being recognized as "the new girl".

Not relishing either of those options, she decided to just crank up her radio and sit in her car until it was time for classes to start. Being too lazy to change the station to something decent, she let the twang of plinky country music fill up the air and drown out the nervous thoughts swirling around inside her head.

Before she knew it, Zoey had her eyes closed, trying her best to mellow out and forget about the new kid horror ahead of her. Suddenly, there was a light tapping noise on her driver's side window; Zoey was surprised she heard it over the sounds of Kenny Chesney blaring in her ears. Thinking a teacher was about to bust her for loitering in the parking lot, she anxiously rolled down the window (effectively eliminating any sense of mellowness she had managed to achieve).

But as the window rolled down Zoey saw that it wasn't a teacher, but a young girl, with short and curly blonde hair and excited blue eyes. Stifling a laugh, Zoey saw that the girl looked like she had fallen out of the car radio; she dressed like she was on her way to the Grand Ole Opry with totally countrified blue jeans and cliché brown cowboy boots. The look on her face made Zoey think that she was about to say something important, but as the country music floated out from the car her face blanked and her eyes lit up like shining sapphires.

"Ooh, Kenny Chesney! !" she blurted excitedly, her Oklahoma accent matching the country twang that had been playing for the past 10 minutes. "Boy, what I wouldn't give to have him come knockin' at my door with a box of chocolates, you know what I mean?"

Zoey laughed, genuinely amused at the girl's cheerful, bubbly demeanor.

"In all honesty I'd prefer Justin Timberlake, but either way I wouldn't say no to the chocolate," Zoey answered good-naturedly. The girl laughed as well.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you or anything," the blonde said. "I'm Stevie Rae Johnson. I don't want to be awkward, but I just wanted to say that I love your car! I'm a truck girl myself, but wow, a classic bug in this cute robin's egg blue color? It looks so cool!"

Zoey smiled up at Stevie Rae, glad that her first meeting with a Broken Arrow high school student wasn't as intimidating as she thought it was going to be.

"Thanks," she said as she turned down the volume on the radio. "My car normally gets made fun of, it's nice to hear some compliments once in a while. I'm Zoey..." she hesitated for a moment, before hastily adding "I'm new here."

Stevie Rae didn't seem like the kind of girl who would tear the new kids apart; Zoey figured it was relatively safe to tell her she was new to the high school and would therefore be wandering around lost and helpless for the better part of the day.

"New student, huh? I always felt that if you're ever going to show up as a new kid, the first day of school is the best time to do it. I could show you around, if you want! I came here pretty close to the end of last year so I didn't have much time to adjust, but I still know the basics and where everything is," Stevie Rae offered cheerfully.

"That would be great, actually," Zoey said as she shut the car engine off and made a grab for her backpack. "I really didn't want to be stumbling around like a _total _newbie all day."

Stevie Rae took a step back to give Zoey room to open the door. The peppy blonde smiled warmly while Zoey locked up her car, and then led the way to the front of the school.

"South Intermediate High is a pretty decent-sized school," Stevie Rae started to say in a tour-guide sort of voice. "I mean, it's not one of those schools where everyone knows everyone else and their mama, but you can definitely see a few familiar faces from year to year."

She led Zoey to the front doors, which opened up into a spacious marble rotunda that served as the entranceway and lobby. Zoey looked around curiously as Stevie Rae continued talking, noting the various plaques set into the walls and the small benches that lined the circular room.

"The main office is just up here, the door on the right," Stevie Rae continued explaining, leading Zoey down the little hall area that the rotunda narrowed into. "We can pick up your schedule here. Everyone else got them over the summer at Orientation, but kids that miss or transfer in later have to come up here to get them."

The girls entered the office, an unassuming little room with a large, curved reception desk that sat between two doors, probably doors that led deeper into the office and held various staff rooms. There was no one seated behind the desk, but several stacks of paper lay neatly across the top.

"Here, I'll find your schedule for you," Stevie Rae said, already starting to dig through the various sheets. "What's your last name, Zoey?"

"Montgomery. Although I prefer to go by Redbird. It's my grandmother's last name."

Stevie Rae smiled as she continued her schedule search.

"Redbird? That's awesome! What a cool name."

Behind them, someone let out a snarky little laugh. Zoey and Stevie Rae turned around to see a preppy looking blonde twitching her way into the office. Her long hair hung low and silkily like a veil, and her brilliant blue eyes were gorgeous but harsh as she looked over the two girls in front of her.

"Redbird? What is that, some kind of hippie 70s Woodstock shit?" the blonde said in a jeering, Bitch Queen tone of voice. Stevie Rae rolled her eyes, but Zoey couldn't help but notice that she nervously shrank back against the reception desk.

"Right, and this is coming from the girl named Aphrodite," Stevie Rae retorted, clearly trying to stand up to the girl but also trying to melt into the scenery as fast as possible.

_Aphrodite...?_

Aphrodite shook back her perfect Pantene hair and shot a nasty glare at Stevie Rae, who suddenly looked like was regretting coming to school that day.

"The next time I want an opinion, I'll make sure I get it from someone other than Betty Jo Clampett," Aphrodite said with an evil smile.

She strode towards the two of them, and her menacing aura alone was enough to make the girls automatically clear a path for her as she made her way to the front desk.

"Looks like someone was too busy partying to get the memo about Orientation," Zoey said pointedly as she watched Aphrodite effortlessly pick out her schedule from the piles of paper.

Aphrodite whirled around like a shampoo commercial model and gave Zoey a sweet but enormously fake smile.

"Please, as if I'm going to give up a day of my summer vacation to sit in a dingy auditorium full of socially challenged morons like you," her voice was like poisoned honey, smooth and sweet but at the same time dangerously cold. "Redbird, right?"

"Just Zoey to you," Zoey steadily met Aphrodite's cool and calculating gaze. The blonde gave a semi-impressed smirk.

"Well then, Zoey, I hope you enjoy your first day of school. And a word of advice, ditch Betty Jo over there before she drags you down to her own pathetic level of loser-dom. Bye ya'll!" she cruelly imitated Stevie Rae's country drawl and then whirled out of the office like a bitchy blonde breeze, leaving Zoey dumbfounded and Stevie Rae desperately wishing she could blend into the wallpaper.

"...What the hell was that about?" Zoey asked as she regained her senses. "I feel like I just walked into a scene from Mean Girls."

Stevie Rae had snapped out of it as well and continued looking for Zoey's schedule. The encounter with Aphrodite had left her looking like a scared little forest critter.

"That's pretty accurate," Stevie Rae said quietly. "Aphrodite LaFont, Broken Arrow's resident Mean Girl."

Zoey was staring blankly at the door Aphrodite had just walked out of, still trying to comprehend the fact that people like her existed outside of the movies.

"What's her deal?"

"Oh, the usual. Rich parents, spoiled childhood, totally unfair perfect looks, people fawning all over her because of her money and status, the works."

There was a brief silence, in which Zoey contemplated asking if something had happened to make Stevie Rae seem personally afraid of Aphrodite, but Stevie Rae interrupted her thoughts with an excited little "Aha!"

She waved Zoey's schedule triumphantly in her hand before dutifully passing it over to the brunette. Zoey's face fell as she initially looked over the sheet.

"No block schedule?" she asked sadly. Stevie Rae shrugged.

"Nope, all seven classes in one day. I know how you feel, my middle school back in Henrietta was on block schedule, and it's tough trying to get all your homework done without it. Mind if I have a look?"

Zoey angled herself so Stevie Rae had room to read over her shoulder.

"Lookee there! !" Stevie Rae said happily, her face lighting up like a little kid's. "We've got the same 1st and 4th period!"

Zoey's spirits lifted, glad to have a familiar face to look forward to throughout the day.

"Whoa, hang on a second," Zoey suddenly said as she focused her attention back to her schedule. "They put me in a Pre-AP Algebra class? ? I'm about as good at math as my sister is at walking and chewing gum at the same time!"

Stevie Rae giggled.

"Don't worry, Pre-AP Algebra here is exactly like the regular Algebra class, they just have more tests. But work-wise, it's not harder," she explained.

"Hmm..." Zoey mused, looking over the rest of her classes. "I guess this schedule isn't too bad. I can probably handle this."

"There ya go!" Stevie Rae cheered. "C'mon, school doesn't start for another 20 minutes, but everyone has their different hangouts here. Last year my friends and I started sticking to the library when we had downtime."

A look of apprehension flashed across Zoey's face, which Stevie Rae misread.

"It's a much cooler place than it sounds!" she hastily added. "There's plenty of computers and laptops to use- -like actual working computers, not the giant creaky ones still running on Windows 98 that most schools have- -and there's even a coffee shop in the back! !"

Although Zoey's apprehensive expression was based on the fact that she was nervous about meeting Stevie Rae's friends and not that the library sounded like a boring hangout, she felt relieved that her new school was starting to sound interesting.

"An actual coffee shop? That's pretty neat. It's like your own private Barnes and Noble," Zoey said as she followed Stevie Rae, who was making her way back out the office and into the hallway. "Can't be better than Starbucks though."

"Of course not!" Stevie Rae laughed. "The library is just up here, down the hall from the office."

The narrow hallway they had been following opened up into a large 4-way intersection, with the library doors sitting comfortably on a corner. Stepping inside, Zoey saw that the room was a fairly impressive size. The modern computers sat neatly in their own little area towards the center of the room, and there were plenty of comfy looking couches and armchairs scattered among the bookshelves that filled the rest of the library.

"Well I'll be breaded and deep-fried, they're already here!" Stevie Rae said in astonishment. Zoey followed her gaze a little ways off to where three kids sat in one of the seating areas. "C'mon Zoey, I'll introduce you!"

Ignoring the nerves that were starting to knot in her stomach, Zoey followed Stevie Rae as she bounded over to her friends like a happy Labrador. The three of them looked up curiously as they noticed the girls approaching.

"About time, Stevie Rae," said a girl reclining comfortably on a couch with a fashion magazine open in front of her. She was another pretty, blue-eyed blonde, who instantly reminded Zoey of a friendlier, less psychotic version of Aphrodite.

"Please, just please with the showing up late," sitting next to the blonde, a gorgeous coffee-colored girl who looked like she fell out of Tyra Banks' closet spoke up.

Off by himself in an armchair, a cute brown-haired boy wagged his finger in a scolding manner at the girls.

"Now now, Stevie Rae's punctuality is not the issue here. She was clearly preoccupied with finding a new lovely girl to join my little harem," he flashed an innocent smile at Zoey, who merely raised an eyebrow in confusion. The blonde rolled her eyes over the top of her magazine.

"Damien, you're gay. Any harem you have is stuck in that well-styled head of yours," she jeered.

"Unless you're trying to compare me to Jake Gyllenhaal, in which case you had _better_ start running for your damn life," Tyra Banks 2.0 said.

"Ya'll! ! Can you cut it out and focus for a minute? ?" Stevie Rae interrupted in a harsh whisper, trying to avoid upsetting any scary-haired librarians that might be lurking nearby.

The girls on the couch chuckled at Stevie Rae's cute way of getting irritated, but all three of her friends smiled apologetically and focused their attention on her.

"Good. Everyone, meet Zoey Montgom- -oops, I mean Zoey Redbird. She's new in town." She gestured towards the boy in the armchair. "Zoey, this is Damien Maslin. He's crazy smart, and girls would probably be hovering all over him if he weren't playing for the other team."

Damien shrugged.

"What can I say, the other team has better players," he said wistfully. Zoey laughed.

"Hi, Damien."

"And over here, that's Erin Bates and Shaunee Cole," Stevie Rae nodded at the blonde and the brunette in turn.

"Hey Zoey," they both said at the same time. Zoey was caught off guard by their tag-team talking.

"Better get used to that," Damien said. "We call them the Twins. Appearances aside, they're freakishly alike and 90% of the time it's like they're running on the same brain."

"It's nice to meet you all," Zoey said with an attempt at a smile. Stevie Rae's friends seemed nice enough, but she was still having trouble shaking the nervous feeling that told her she was going to have a hard time fitting in with them.

_Just get a grip, Zoey...if you stay level-headed, they'll never find out about you and you can fit in just fine..._

She sat down in an armchair situated across from Damien as Stevie Rae squeezed in next to the Twins.

"Zoey has History and English with us, ya'll! Now I can't wait until school starts!" Stevie Rae said, practically bouncing with excitement.

"So I see she's already met the Nerd Herd. Well, I guess it's too late for her now."

Zoey was already able to recognize the voice, and the group around her let out a quiet groan as Aphrodite came sauntering into view. She looked over the gang like someone would look over a mangy stray dog wandering the streets; with a mixture of disgust and pity.

"I tried to warn you about trailing after the likes of Stevie Rae Johnson, but I guess you didn't listen to me," she shrugged and frowned at Zoey. "Oh well. And here I was, trying to do my good deed for the day."

Erin didn't look up from her magazine.

"What's the Hag from Hell doing in the library? There aren't any books on witchcraft in here," she taunted.

Aphrodite put on the sweet but fake smile that Zoey was already indentifying as her trademark expression.

"You've probably already checked them all out to turn some poor boy into a toad for the Frog Prince over here," Aphrodite said airily, nodding at Damien. He tried to look indifferent, but the smallest flicker of hurt flashed in his eyes. Zoey stood up from her chair and faced down Aphrodite for the second time that day.

"Look, Aphrodite," she said sternly, resisting the urge to smack Malibu Barbie upside her blonde bobble-head, "I don't know what your issue is, but- -"

"My issue," Aphrodite interrupted, her tone rising to match Zoey's, "is the continuous amount of _trash_ that keeps showing up at my school. The more freaks and geeks like you and the Nerd Herd that show up, the worse this place gets. People like me, who actually matter, are the ones that run this school. Unless you're looking for your life to get real shitty, you'd better remember who's on top here."

Zoey blinked dumbly, her irritation suddenly wiped away as she looked over Aphrodite in amazement.

_How the hell can someone actually be this pretentious? ? Is she even hearing herself right now?_

Zoey shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

"Listen, I'm new to this school, and it's my first day. I'm not looking to get involved in any trouble," she said.

"Then you had better stay out of my way, Redbird."

With that, Aphrodite turned and twitched off towards the library's checkout counter, leaving the so-called "Nerd Herd" behind like dirt on the heels of her designer pumps.

"Hag Bitch," the Twins muttered together.

But Zoey wasn't listening to them. An angry heat started to build inside of her as she watched Aphrodite strut around like she was Queen of the Universe. Zoey hated people like that, and the fact that she had nothing better to do than pick an immature fight with the first person that came across her path was grating on Zoey's last nerve.

_If only people like her could be taught a lesson..._

The heat inside was starting to spread, spiraling throughout her body, twisting around her hands and fingers like a living flame. Soon it wasn't just an angry flush, it was growing hotter, and hotter, until...

_Ah, hell! !_

With a start, Zoey squeezed her eyes shut and shook out her hands like she was trying to get out that tingly, falling asleep feeling. Slowly but surely, the fiery warmth started to dissipate, and as Zoey went back to normal she cautiously glanced over her shoulder at Stevie Rae and her friends. They hadn't noticed Zoey's little freakout, they were busy nodding in agreement at something Shaunee had just said (probably questioning Aphrodite's mental stability).

It wasn't until Zoey let out a sigh and sat back down that Stevie Rae looked over at her.

"You just gotta learn to tune her out, Zoey," she said sympathetically.

"Yeah. It's tough at first, but as soon as she realizes no one's listening to her she'll go find some other poor victim to sink her fangs into," Shaunee agreed.

Taking their words into account, Zoey cast one final look at Aphrodite, who was checking out a textbook at the front counter and smiling kindly at the librarian.

"Unfortunately, she's got all the teachers fooled," Damien said sadly, following Zoey's line of sight. "To them, she's just the perfect pride and joy of Mayor and Mrs. LaFont."

Zoey snapped her attention back to Damien.

"Whoa, what? ? Her dad is a mayor? ?"

Damien nodded.

"Tulsa's mayor."

_Holy...! !_

"Hence Aphrodite's major power trip," Damien continued. "Around here she and her friends have quite a few overeager zealots."

"A few...wha- -?" Zoey raised an eyebrow in confusion, looking over the boy who had suddenly turned into a dictionary with arms.

"Zealots. Think loyal drooling lapdogs," Erin explained. "Damien has a crazed obsession with using big fancy shmancy words instead of just keeping things simple for us."

"Look, let's just quit talking about Aphrodite for now, huh?" Stevie Rae squirmed uncomfortably on the couch next to the Twins, as if the mere subject of the blonde made her edgy. Again, Zoey wondered what Aphrodite could have done to Stevie Rae to make her hide like a scared little rabbit at the mention of her name.

Stevie Rae stood up then, and started gathering her things.

"We should get going. 1st period is all the way at the other end of the school, and if we get there early we might have a chance to sit together," she said.

"Unless we have one of those jerk teachers who sets you up in alphabetical order," Zoey added.

"The four of us would still wind up pretty close together," Shaunee stood up too and slung her purse over her shoulder. "Bates and Cole, Johnson and Maslin. Only poor Zoey would be all alone, huddled by herself in a corner," she joked.

"Nope," Zoey smiled. "I like to go by my grandma's last name, but it's actually Montgomery."

"Guess that means you'll be sticking with me, then!" Damien shrugged into his backpack and got up to stand next to Shaunee. "Er Bear, put the fashion down, it's time to go to class."

Erin let out a disappointed grumble but obediently slapped her magazine down with the others on the low coffee table that sat at the center of their chairs. Then she, along with Zoey, got up to join the gang as they made their way to the library's exit.

"So!" Stevie Rae started, "Ready for your first day of school, Zoey?"

Zoey glanced over her shoulder, back at the spot she was standing when the strange heat spiraled through every inch of her and threatened to take over.

_Way to go, Zoey. First day at a new school and your stupid powers almost set the library on fire. Nice job._

"...Zoey?" Stevie Rae prodded.

Zoey turned back around and smiled. An extremely forced and insincere smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Can't wait."

* * *

The morning went by in a blur. At the time, in the middle of all the typical name mispronouncing and endless sheets of supply lists and grading rubrics, Zoey felt like the day would never end. But now afternoon had arrived, and Zoey was stumbling her way down the hall to 5th period Algebra.

Stevie Rae and the others had helped Zoey find her first four classes- -having their own classes in the same area- -but now she was on her own on the opposite side of the school, wandering around the math hall (which, as it turned out, was made up of two separate halls, as if things weren't already confusing enough).

Not wanting to walk around with a map in front of her face like a freshman, Zoey circled up and down the hallways in search of the right classroom, feeling only a slight twinge of worry when the crowds around her slowly began to trickle away as the passing period neared its end.

_I guess it really doesn't matter if I'm a little late. What are they gonna do? Throw me in detention for getting lost on my first day at a new school? Shame on you, Zoey. How dare you not have the entire layout of this building memorized already. Shame._

Despite her indifference towards tardiness, she still didn't want to be waltzing into class half an hour late like those loser kids who spend their mornings doing drugs behind the dumpsters without a care in the world.

Zoey came to a stop in the middle of the hallway and looked around. No one was nearby.

"Alright Z," she muttered to herself, "I know you didn't want to do this, but I don't have time to stay out here forever."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing her mind.

_Air...be my guide. I know you probably have better things to do than help a teenager find her math class, but just humor me._

Suddenly, a cool, gentle breeze wafted into the windowless hallway. Zoey could feel it weaving through her long hair like a playful little animal coming to say hello. Then, it took off down the hall, swirling and writhing like a Chinese dragon. Opening her eyes, Zoey could almost physically see it; a silvery gray wisp- -almost like smoke- -but less crude, more silky and light. She followed it as it twirled down the hall and rounded a corner, snaking around some more before finally stopping in front of a closed door.

"This must be the place," Zoey said quietly. "Thank you, air. You may depart."

The breeze twisted itself in and out of Zoey's hair again, and then with a feeling of farewell it was gone. Feeling triumphant for avoiding yet another mini-crisis that day, Zoey opened the classroom door and stepped inside just as the bell started to ring.

Her triumph disappeared the second she saw what awaited her.

The teacher was not in the room yet, but all the desks had already been filled by the students who had the sense to arrive early and get decent seats. Only one desk was empty for Zoey, and it was situated directly behind...Aphrodite LaFont.

_You have got to be kidding me._

Slightly in shock and quickly realizing that not even alphabetical seating would save her from the Blonde Terror, Zoey grudgingly made her feet shuffle forward and carry her to her doom. Only two students turned to look at her in that annoying and completely unnecessary "Let's stupidly gawk at whoever just walked into the room for no real reason" thing that kids tend to do. She resisted the urge to shoot nasty glares at them and made her way to the desk behind Aphrodite. The girl didn't even notice Zoey, she was busy typing away on her ridiculously expensive and clearly customized iPhone.

As Zoey settled into her chair and dropped her backpack onto the floor, a wave of awkwardness came over her. Should she say something to Aphrodite, let her know she was sitting behind her? Or should she just keep her mouth shut and stay hidden as long as possible? Maybe now that it was just the two of them Aphrodite wouldn't feel the need to be quite so bitchy and they might actually be able to have a civilized conversation. Just as Zoey was contemplating making small talk, she was interrupted and the words died in her throat.

"Zoey."

Zoey never thought she'd shudder so much at the sound of her own name. Aphrodite slowly turned in her chair like those clichéd movie villains who do the dramatic twirl-arounds while petting a ridiculously oversized cat. She didn't bother with putting on that fake smile of hers, she just looked over Zoey with cold sapphire eyes that pierced through her like ice.

"Surprised to see you here," the blonde said.

Zoey mentally shook herself out of the mini-panic that Aphrodite's sudden glare had put her in and returned the favor with an equally harsh expression of her own.

"I was just about to say the same to you," she said stiffly. Any attempt she was going to make at being cordial flew out the window the second Aphrodite had opened her mouth. "I didn't figure you for taking a class that actually involves work."

Aphrodite laughed a short, mocking laugh.

"Just for that, you can forget about me offering you homework help," she jeered.

"I'll try to feel bad."

Aphrodite turned back around, ignoring Zoey. Zoey let out a weary sigh, realizing that three encounters with the Bitch Queen in one day was a very exhausting experience.

_An entire year of Aphrodite...I'd rather just be burned at the stake. How about it, fire? What do you say?_

She felt a small bubble of heat quickly rise and then vanish in the pit of her stomach, as if the element of fire was laughing good-naturedly at her predicament.

_Yeah...I figured as much._


	2. Power Hour

The first week of school was going by fast, and before she knew it, Zoey was sitting at lunch that Thursday afternoon with her mind already on the weekend ahead. When Stevie Rae had arrived at their table with her chili dog, Damien had launched into a long-winded and unfortunately detailed description of how hot dogs are processed, leaving the Twins cringing, Stevie Rae staring forlornly at her untouched food, and Zoey spacing out as she thought about what she would do when school was out for the weekend. Over the dull roar of the cafeteria around them, Zoey managed to catch a few snippets of their conversation here and there, but eventually she tuned them out.

"Please Damien, just please with your Discovery Channel crap."

"If you don't quit talking about mashed-up meat parts I'm going to reach across this table and smack you upside the head."

"Ya'll, there's no need to be mean..."

"I'm just trying to educate you on a little fun-filled trivia."

"Fun-filled it is not. Hurl-filled it is."

Their comical bickering silently faded away as Zoey got lost in her thoughts.

_There's nothing to do in Broken Arrow. I think I exhausted every source of fun in this town within the first three days of moving here. Maybe Stevie Rae can suggest something to do, or hell, I could stay in and do homework all weekend._

"Zoey?"

Stevie Rae's voice shook the brunette out of her inner babble, and when she focused her attention back to the table the country girl had an expression on her face that said she was desperate to change the subject.

"How have the rest of your classes been going?" Stevie Rae asked anxiously, flicking her eyes back and forth to Damien as if to say "Please dear God Zoey, say something, anything, to keep him from talking."

"Everything's been pretty easy so far," she answered, stifling a laugh as Stevie Rae's desperation was mirrored in the Twins' faces. "But then again, it's only the fourth day of school. I've probably got a solid week before my life starts spiraling out of control."

"Speaking of," Shaunee started, "how's the Math Class from Hell?"

"Still hellish," Zoey said with a sigh, referring to her Algebra class with Aphrodite. "It's hard trying to focus when there's a rabid dog in front of you that might snap at any moment. And get this! We had this preliminary quiz on Tuesday to see how much we already know, and guess what Aphrodite got? A freaking 98! !"

"The hell? ?" Shaunee exclaimed, her face screwing up like the smell of someone's gym socks had just come wafting over.

"What was the quiz over? Asshole addition and slutty subtraction? ?" Erin blurted incredulously.

Shaunee started to laugh, and as the shock of Aphrodite's impossibly stellar scores faded away, Erin cracked up at her own joke too. Even Stevie Rae, who had started absentmindedly picking at the bun of her uneaten chili dog, let out a little giggle.

Once the laughter died down, Damien spoke up.

"It's like I told you, Zoey, she's got all the teachers eating out of the palm of her hand," he sighed.

"If you had anything resembling talent you could probably do the same thing."

Zoey groaned as the voice of her nightmares floated over to their table like a poison fog.

"What, do you have radar or something!?" Zoey snapped as Aphrodite came up and stood menacingly over them.

The blonde smiled sweetly.

"You know I can't go a day without saying hello to my favorite little Nerd Herd."

"Try," the Twins said together.

Aphrodite laughed, delighted to see how much she was able to grate on their nerves.

"See you next period, Zoey," she said in a mocking tone, as Zoey was slinking further and further down into her chair in an attempt to disappear completely.

"Yeah, see you," Zoey grumbled, already too tired to snap at her anymore.

With a fiendishly satisfied smirk and a supermodel-style twirl, Aphrodite left.

There was a long silence in the aftermath of Hurricane Bitch Queen, in which the gang stared forlornly down at the table and their various lunches.

"...It's like she just sucks the life right out of you," Zoey finally said, breaking the silence.

"Please, the Hag from Hell has a _degree_ in sucking," Shaunee sneered.

"Various kinds of sucking," Erin added.

Not even wanting to give the horrifying mental picture Erin had just painted a chance to occupy her head, Zoey let out a sigh of relief as the bell rang to dismiss to 5th period. As they stood up from the table and started to clean up, Zoey noticed Stevie Rae's untouched lunch.

"Hey, how about you and I meet up after school and get some Damien-free food?" she offered. Damien dramatically brought the back of his hand to his forehead and pretended to be offended while Stevie Rae's eyes lit up gratefully.

"Sounds like a plan!" she agreed with a nod.

"Alright, we're out of here," the Twins said together, getting ready to leave first because their class was the farthest away.

"Zoey, good luck with the hag," Shaunee added.

Zoey gave a half-hearted smile and waved goodbye as the Twins left, then turned to Damien and Stevie Rae.

"I'd better get going, too. If I get to Algebra now I'll have a good two minutes of peace before Aphrodite arrives."

The two gave Zoey sympathetic smiles, and after more quick goodbyes they went their separate ways. Once again, Zoey found herself lost in her thoughts as she made her way down to the math hallway.

_Stevie Rae said Pre-AP Algebra isn't any harder than regular Algebra, but math just isn't my thing. Maybe I can count on Damien for homework help; if the boy can blabber on about pig parts for ages then I'm sure he knows a thing or two about polynomials._

Sure enough, Zoey managed to beat the lunchtime rush and be one of the first people in the classroom, with Aphrodite nowhere in sight.

_I'm sure she made a pit stop with one of the numerous boyfriends she probably has. Not that I object, anything that keeps her away from me is A-OK in my book._

Zoey took her time walking to her seat, not feeling the need to hurry out of Aphrodite's line of sight like she normally did. As she set her backpack on the floor she glanced at the whiteboard at the front of the room, letting out a groan as she looked over it.

There was a very long list of textbook pages assigned as the homework for that day, accompanied by a chart full of complicated and foreign-looking math terms that Zoey was fairly certain weren't even remotely close to English.

"I was wrong," she grumbled to herself, "my life has already started to spiral out of control."

* * *

With the school day over and the school day's homework sitting in Zoey's backpack like a lead weight, she and Stevie Rae made their way through the parking lot to Zoey's Bug.

"I dunno...you could ask him, but I think Damien is more of a facts and general knowledge kind of smart, not formulas and equations smart," Stevie Rae was saying as Zoey complained about her ever-growing math impairment and dire need for assistance.

Zoey sighed, and dug around in her jacket pocket for her car keys as they got closer to her parking space. Absentmindedly twirling the key ring around her finger, she looked out at the massive crowd of kids who were also trying to make a fast getaway off of school grounds, and far across the sea of students she managed to spot a familiar veil of blonde hair streaming towards a sleek silver Lexus.

"Hey..." the brunette started as a thought suddenly came to her. "Where're Aphrodite's friends?"

"Wha- -?" Stevie Rae blurted in confusion, before following Zoey's gaze and spotting Aphrodite as well.

The two reached the vintage Bug and piled their bags into backseat, as Zoey watched the Queen Mean Girl do the same across the parking lot with her luxury speedster.

"Her friends," she repeated. "Everytime she comes to rag on us she isn't flanked by the typical posse of freakishly perfect bottle blondes who applaud her every word. And she's part of the popular crowd, right? If the popular crowd here is anything like other schools, then statistically speaking she should have like, three high-society groupies in each of her classes."

Stevie Rae giggled.

"You're speaking statistically?" she teased. Zoey playfully elbowed her.

"You know what I mean," she retorted. "Aphrodite doesn't talk to anyone in our math class, and as much as we bump into each other in the hallway, I've never seen her with someone."

Stevie Rae just shrugged, finding it hard to care what Aphrodite did or didn't do with her social life.

"She's probably just in a transition period," she answered nonchalantly. "The girl's been known to switch out friends like she switches out Chanel handbags."

Zoey shook her head. "That's terrible."

"That's who she is. The rest of us are just trying to make it 'till graduation and the day we won't have to see her anymore."

Stevie Rae opened the passenger side door and climbed in; Zoey did the same on her driver's side. She started up the car, then navigated her way through the parking lot and onto the street.

"I guess I don't have to worry about finding something to do this weekend," Zoey grumbled. "I've got enough homework to keep me busy until Christmas. I suppose it's for the best though, because unless I'm looking in all the wrong places, Broken Arrow is not a very entertaining town."

"No, you're right," Stevie Rae nodded. "Finding fun here is like huntin' for a needle in a haystack."

The car slowed to a stop at a red light, and Zoey took the opportunity to turn up the radio a little bit, as it had been too quiet in the car without it.

"Don't you guys ever go crazy?" Zoey asked as she kept her eyes trained on the light, lest some angry driver behind her have a fit if she didn't move the second the light changed.

"Sometimes," Stevie Rae answered. "But we manage. The Twins are the party planners of the group, they always come up with something to do. 90% of the time it's shopping, but at any rate we keep ourselves busy."

When the traffic light turned green, Zoey steered the car onto a side street, making her way towards a new burger place that Stevie Rae said she had wanted to try for lunch.

"You moved here over the summer, right?" Stevie Rae asked. Zoey nodded in response.

"Broken Arrow is actually my hometown. But my dad left when I was two, so my mom moved us to Oklahoma City for a fresh start," she explained.

"Wow...from nowhere to the big city and then back to nowhere again," Stevie Rae mused. "Must've been hard leaving all your friends."

"Yeah, my best friend Kayla and my kinda-boyfriend Heath were less than thrilled...actually, I'm really not sure how Kayla felt about it. When I told her I was moving she launched into this monumental mile-an-hour monologue and I honestly sort of tuned her out after the first three minutes."

Stevie Rae laughed, then said "Kinda-boyfriend?"

"Ugh, it's complicated," Zoey groaned with a shake of her head. "He cycled between being sweet, to a jerk, to an idiot, then back to sweet again. Which is partly my fault, because I would just let him be when he went through his dirtbag phases instead of stepping up and smacking some sense into him."

She shook her head again.

"Either way, I tried to keep in touch with them over the summer, but it's different now that we don't see each other everyday. And with the new school year I haven't had a chance to talk to them at all this week."

They finally reached the diner, and Zoey smoothly pulled into a parking space and cut the engine.

"I'm glad you're here, though," Stevie Rae said with a sheepish smile as Zoey un-clicked her seatbelt. "I know it's only been four days, but we really like having you around."

Zoey smiled back, genuinely glad to hear that.

"Thanks, Stevie Rae. I like being around you guys too. You're all tons of fun, and it's nice to be around people who don't spend so much time pretending to be something they're not."

Despite the fact that they had just met, Zoey was already starting to think of Stevie Rae and the gang as good friends.

"Let's go," Zoey said as Stevie Rae tried to avoid blushing. "You must be hungry thanks to Damien and his impromptu science lecture."

"Ready to rustle up some food, that's for sure!"

The two girls laughed, and then left the car to go eat lunch together.

* * *

The second week of school had arrived. When Zoey was getting ready that Monday morning, she trudged down the stairs to find the Step-Loser lurking around the kitchen like some kind of Left 4 Dead zombie, and she promptly hightailed it back to her room to avoid a long-winded lecture on Hell or sins or rock music.

She made plans to grab some breakfast at the McDonald's drive-thru so she wouldn't have to sit through the wrath of her stepdad's Bible thumping, so with tremendous effort she attempted to tie her shoes, throw her binder into her backpack, and hunt for her wallet all at the same time.

This particular Oklahoma morning was the first that wasn't ridiculously warm, so after Zoey finally got herself situated she shrugged into a red zip-up Mickey Mouse hoodie and bolted down the stairs to the front door. There was the occasional strong gust of chilly wind as she stepped outside, and Zoey wistfully contemplated summoning fire to keep herself from shivering out of her shoes.

"I'm still not even sure where these powers came from," she said to herself after she slid into her car. "Maybe I'm not supposed to be using them as a space heater."

Her control over the elements started to manifest a few months before her family moved from Oklahoma City, and after arriving in Broken Arrow one of the first things Zoey did was drive down to visit her grandmother. Grandma Redbird was strongly connected to the ancient and mysterious ways of Zoey's Cherokee ancestors, and was Zoey's best chance of finding out just what was happening to her. Although she was raised with her grandmother's teachings of magic, she never truly believed in it until the magic suddenly became a part of her.

Of course, she couldn't confide in anyone in her own Stepford house; even the slightest mention of elemental powers and John would have her burned at the stake (although on several occasions she was tempted to set his greasy hair on fire just to see him throw a comical fit about Satan and witchcraft).

But all Zoey's grandma could offer was that some ancient force saw fit to bless her with incredible powers, and until Zoey could learn why, it was best to just tread carefully and learn to hone her skills.

_Using fire to reheat my coffee technically counts as honing, right?_ she nervously thought.

Grandma Redbird had almost made it sound like Zoey had been chosen to fulfill some magical, movie-style destiny, but Zoey thought otherwise.

_I'm just a teenage girl trying to survive high school. How important can I be?_

She had arrived at the school parking lot, and eagerly scanned the area to find a spot as close to the building as possible so the wind had less of a chance to screw up her hair on the walk to the front doors. She was cutting it close; there were only about ten minutes until first period started, and her World History class was all the way on the other side of the school. Her plan to grab breakfast on the way to school backfired when it turned out that every other kid at South Intermediate High had the same idea, and the drive-thru line was practically backed up halfway out the state. So a hungry, chilly, and pressed-for-time Zoey hurriedly made her way inside the building and down to class.

* * *

"Well I'll be dipped in gravy..." Stevie Rae said in astonishment as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. "No Hag from Hell today!"

Zoey was too busy stuffing her face with a sandwich to pay attention to anything, so when Stevie Rae spoke up, Zoey's response was to mutter a very attractive "Huh? ?" around a mouth full of turkey and lettuce.

"Hey, you're right," Shaunee said, equally astonished. Zoey was still trying to catch up.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" she asked, flustered from rushing to swallow her giant bite of sandwich so she could speak.

"We haven't seen Aphrodite all day!" Stevie Rae said again, looking like she'd just been told that Kenny Chesney was on his way to take her out to the state fair.

"She probably tripped over her Gucci heels and fell down a flight of stairs," Erin added dryly, seemingly bitter about the fact that Aphrodite still existed.

Zoey was hurrying to finish her sandwich so she could make it to Pre-AP Algebra on time and held no interest in partaking in the conversation.

"It _is_ rather unusual. Whenever she was too busy to spend her time picking on us last year we at least saw her strutting down the halls with her Hag Pack," Damien mused. "It's strange to not see her roaming around like a psychotic cat."

Zoey finished off the last crusts of her sandwich and started to clean up.

"She's probably just absent. It happens," Zoey shrugged. Shaunee rolled her eyes and stood up from the table.

"Please. Just please. As if you're not as excited as the rest of us to finally be Hag-less for once," she said.

Truthfully, Zoey could care less. If Aphrodite wasn't at school, then great. Zoey could put her feet up during math next period. No big deal. But then again, she hadn't been facing the wrath of G.I. Barbie for as long as the rest of the gang had. By now they had probably earned a long deserved break.

"Alright guys, I'm off," Zoey said, standing up as well and slinging her backpack over one shoulder.

"I'll say," the Twins said together, unable to believe that Zoey wasn't ready to throw a parade over Aphrodite's absence.

Zoey merely shrugged and gave an apologetic smile before waving goodbye and starting off towards Algebra.

_Poor guys...it's awful that Aphrodite has that effect on them..._

A familiar anger started to build inside her, but she kept it under control this time.

"Someone's seriously got to knock that girl off her high horse..." she muttered to herself.

_I'm not afraid of Aphrodite, but I also don't want to go starting any trouble. And at the same time, I can't stand to see my friends living their lives worrying about when she's going to pop up..._

Her irritation towards the blonde started to manifest in her power over elemental fire, but as the heat started to coil around her hands she took a deep breath and made the effort to calm herself down.

_One day this week, when the sheer thought of her doesn't make me want to scratch her gorgeous blue eyes out, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind._

Sure enough, confirming everyone's suspicions/hopes, Aphrodite wasn't there when Zoey stepped into the classroom. She wasn't there when Zoey grudgingly passed last week's homework forward, already anticipating the abysmal grades she would get. She wasn't there when Mrs. James put up various complicated graphs on the overhead projector, which Zoey scrambled to copy down for future reference. And finally, she wasn't there when the bell rang and jolted Zoey awake from the inadvertent nap she had taken on top of her binder.

Slipping into her backpack and stumbling into a few desks as a result of her blurry sleep vision, she drowsily rubbed her eyes like a little kid as she stepped out into the hall.

"Zoey."

Zoey almost jumped out of her shoes when someone said her name right next to her. All the remaining sleepiness was knocked out of her as she turned her head to see who was talking.

"Aphrodite! !"

The blonde was waiting outside the door, arms crossed and looking as bitchy as ever.

"Where were you? I thought you were absent, you just missed the entire math class!" Zoey's surprise at running into Aphrodite for the first time all day overrode the anger she was feeling just an hour ago.

"We need to talk," Aphrodite said, uncharacteristically serious. Her cold blue eyes (which, Zoey noticed, looked slightly bloodshot and irritated) were fixed dangerously on the brunette.

The anger was back.

"You know what, Aphrodite? No. I don't have anything to say until you learn how to get a grip and drop the constant attitude. I'm not interested," Zoey said stiffly.

Aphrodite narrowed her eyes.

"It wasn't a request," the bitter tone in her voice matched the harshness of her eyes. Zoey wasn't impressed.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Zoey said in exasperation. "You think everything just runs on your schedule, but we've all got better things to do than- -"

"Zoey," Aphrodite said again through clenched teeth, looking like she was about to ninja-kick the girl down the hall.

Whether it was the glint in Aphrodite's eyes that told Zoey she was serious, or the fact that Zoey knew she wasn't about to get a moment's peace unless she listened, she slowly nodded and followed the blonde as she led Zoey down the hall and around the corner. Aphrodite gestured for her to stand close to the wall so they could talk relatively freely without being heard.

"Make this quick, I've literally got to trek to the other side of the school for 6th period," Zoey sighed.

"This is more important," Aphrodite said simply.

Zoey gritted her teeth and resisted the overwhelming urge to put the blonde in a choke hold.

"If you think it's more important than me arriving to class on time, therefore avoiding getting a tardy for the day, therefore avoiding my grades dropping, therefore avoiding- -"

"You were in one of my visions."

Zoey abruptly stopped talking. She blinked dumbly, staring at Aphrodite like she had just spun around and transformed into the pink Power Ranger.

"I was in one of your...wha-?" she sputtered. Aphrodite rolled her eyes.

"One of my visions. Pay attention."

Zoey was struggling to comprehend what she was hearing.

"You have...you have visions?" she questioned.

A look of irritation grew on Aphrodite's face, like this was an extremely simple concept and Zoey was a child that just would not grasp it.

"Yes. Things that haven't happened yet, I can see them. Various things. Accidents, crimes, everyday occurrences...shit, sometimes it's good for nothing but a weather forecast," Aphrodite explained, completely straight-faced.

Zoey was still comically wide-eyed as she looked over Aphrodite.

"So...what was this vision about?" she asked quietly.

A quick look of surprise flashed across Aphrodite's features, like she was expecting Zoey to protest the fact that she had visions some more, but she quickly composed herself and continued.

"My visions used to be crystal clear. So detailed that I could read the license plate number of a car that was going to crash. But lately..." she furrowed her eyebrows, "They've been fuzzy. Some parts clear and other parts broken and clouded."

Zoey cautiously glanced around the hall and noted the students still walking past them on the way to their next class. She lowered her voice.

"But you could tell the vision was about me, right?" she whispered. Aphrodite nodded.

"You were attacked," she said, ignoring the gasp that Zoey let out. "I couldn't tell exactly what it was."

She narrowed her eyes in concentration, searching through her memories to try and recall what she had seen.

"It looked human, but it didn't act human, it was more like a wild animal. Hunched over, snarling, and moving way too fast. I couldn't see where you were when it happened, but the thing came out of nowhere. You didn't have a chance to fight it," Aphrodite said.

Zoey said nothing, trying to process all this new information that had just blindsided her.

"I'm only telling you this because if you end up dead in a ditch somewhere I don't want the police knocking at my door. I don't care if you believe me or not," the blonde continued.

"No, I believe you!" Zoey hastily said, snapping out of her shock. Now it was Aphrodite's turn to look surprised.

Ignoring the part of her mind that was screaming that what she was about to do was a very bad idea, Zoey told Aphrodite what she thought she'd never get the chance to tell anyone but her grandma.

"If you say you have special powers, I believe you, because I...I can control the elements," she admitted quietly. Barbie Girl didn't look impressed.

"The what?" she scoffed.

"The elements," Zoey repeated. "Air, earth, water, fire, spirit...I can summon and control them."

She looked around the hall once more, checking to see if anyone was still around. Once she saw that the two of them were alone in the hallway now that the other students had cleared off to class, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A swirling wind like the one raging outside whipped up in the middle of the hallway. Aphrodite's golden hair was tossed around haphazardly, which seemed to freak her out more than the revelation that Zoey had just made.

"Whoa, Power Freak! I get it, turn it off!" she yelled over the wind as she scrambled to smooth down her hair. Zoey opened her eyes, and the wind disappeared. Aphrodite looked livid.

"Mess up my hair again and you're in for a world of shit," she snarled.

Zoey's eyes widened.

"You mean...you're not afraid of me?" she asked timidly.

"Like I said, pull something like that again and it's _you_ who should be afraid of _me_."

With one final glare, Aphrodite turned on her heels and walked away.

"And a word of advice," she called over her shoulder as she strutted out of sight, "I'd keep those oh-so-special powers at the ready the next time you go walking down a dark alley at night."


	3. Your Average Girl

Zoey was still in a bit of a daze as she drove to school the next morning.

_I sure hope Grandma was wrong about some powerful and magical force granting powers like mine...because I'm not so sure I'd trust something that let the Hag from Hell star on Power Hour too..._

As she drove down Broken Arrow's main street, she found herself constantly glancing out the window, expecting to see some nightmarish horror movie monster running alongside her car, growling and glaring at her.

"Get a grip, Zo," she sternly told herself. "Whatever Aphrodite saw, it only got to you because you weren't expecting it."

_Maybe now that I know, it won't even happen at all. Maybe it was only going to happen because I didn't know it was going to happen, but know that I know it's going to happen, it'll cancel out and...but the thing doesn't KNOW that I know it's going to happen, so maybe it'll happen anyway and...wait, what? ?_

Zoey groaned. Things like this always screwed up her head. She could barely watch Back to the Future without feeling like she needed to reach for an aspirin by the end of it, let alone try to deal with this stuff in real life. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Zoey knew what she had to do.

"I've got to talk to Aphrodite again," she said glumly, suddenly wishing she could just get eaten by the blonde's vision monster and be done with it.

The Bug turned into the school's parking lot and began searching for a place to park.

"I mean, she's got crazy powers like I do, so she must be wanting to talk to someone about them, right?" Zoey asked aloud to no one in particular.

It made sense in her head, before she remembered that she was still dealing with the Wicked Witch of Oklahoma. Zoey quickly resigned herself to the fact that the common bond approach wasn't going to work here, and decided that she was just going to have to harass the information out of Aphrodite until she heard what she needed to (after all, all she had to do was threaten another windstorm and the blonde would be talking in no time).

Zoey chuckled as she realized that she had finally managed to 1-Up Aphrodite for once. The Bug turned into a spot close to the front of the school, and Zoey saw Stevie Rae bopping her way towards the doors; her blonde curls bouncing around like a cherub's. Zoey beeped the horn, and Stevie Rae- -already able to recognize the sound as belonging to Zoey's car- -turned her head around with a smile.

With her backpack over one shoulder Zoey got out of the car, glad to see Stevie Rae and temporarily forgetting her anxiety over Aphrodite's vision.

"Mornin' Zoey!"

"Morning," Zoey greeted with a smile as she met Stevie Rae in front of the school doors. "Are the guys already in the library?"

"I know the Twins are," Stevie Rae answered as they headed inside. "They came early to beat the lines at the coffee shop."

Sure enough, when the pair arrived at the library, the Twins were already in their usual spot; drinks in hand, textbooks open on the table in front of them, and bickering back and forth about something.

"Thank goodness you two are here," Erin said in exasperation as Zoey and Stevie Rae came over. "Did either of you finish the World History homework?"

Zoey's heart froze.

"Homework? There was homework? ?" a look of teenage panic started to spread across her face.

Stevie Rae sat herself down in an armchair and started to dig through her bag, looking for the homework in question that Zoey apparently had no clue about.

"Geez Zoey, where were you? We had to do notes over chapter 4 and then answer the questions at the end. Shaunee and I were going to split the questions and then copy each other's this morning, but Miss America's Next Top Model over here was too busy picking out her outfit to focus on doing the right half," Erin sneered, shooting Shaunee a nasty glare. Shaunee returned the favor.

"Or MAYBE Miss Hilton over here was too busy trying to perfect her stringy white girl hair to double-check that SHE did the right half," the darker Twin retorted.

Erin looked positively insulted that Shaunee had the nerve to comment on her hair, and Stevie Rae glanced up from her backpack mid-search.

"You both did the same questions?" she asked. But the glares that the Twins were exchanging were the only response she needed.

Zoey, meanwhile, was still stuck in shell-shock. Oddly enough, being told that some mystery creature was going to come attack her when she least expected it seemed to make her forget about things like school and homework. With a pathetic groan, she dropped her backpack onto the floor and sunk into the armchair across from Stevie Rae.

"Zoey?" Stevie Rae looked over her in concern.

"Don't mind me, my high school career is just crashing right in front of me, no big deal," she muttered glumly. The Twins stopped their evil staring contest and focused on the brunette too.

"Only the second week of school," Zoey elaborated, "and I'm already forgetting homework and failing Algebra."

"Failing? ?" Stevie Rae's eyes widened like a scared rabbit's. "I thought you were going to ask Damien for help?"

Zoey shrugged.

"I didn't want to bother him, I'm sure he's got his own stuff to do."

"Pfft, are you kidding? That boy will take any chance he can get to be a know-it-all and throw big words around," Erin said.

The conversation reminded Zoey of how Aphrodite had joked about offering homework help on the first day of school, which in turn reminded her that she still had to talk to Aphrodite alone at some point in the day.

_I wonder where the popular kids lurk around all day. Maybe I can use the elements again to find out where Aphrodite is...or maybe my powers won't work if I use them to seek out pure evil._

"Zoey? Did you want to see my notes?" Stevie Rae's voice brought Zoey out of her thoughts. She looked over to see the Twins furiously scribbling down answers out of Stevie Rae's green spiral.

"Oh my gosh, thank you," Zoey said, breathing a great sigh of relief. "You saved my life."

Stevie Rae grinned like a little kid.

"Just call me Super Stevie! !"

"Or Stevie Wonder," Shaunee added, causing Erin and herself to break out in laughter. Apparently their little fight was already over.

By the time everyone was sufficiently caught up with homework, the dismissal bell was ringing, signaling everyone to start making their way to 1st period. With Zoey feeling a huge weight lifted thanks to Stevie Rae, she and the girls started the trek to World History.

"Is Damien absent today?" Zoey asked, noting how the resident gay genius never joined them in the library.

"He's almost never absent," Erin waved her off dismissively. "I'm sure he's around here somewhere."

Sure enough, when they arrived at the classroom, Damien was already in his desk, and the girls took their places around him (as it turned out, Mr. Harrond was not one of those jerk teachers that set you up in alphabetical order, so the gang was all able to sit together).

"Boy, where were you at?" Shaunee asked as she opened her bag and took out her last-minute homework like she was a good little student who had it done this whole time.

Damien was absentmindedly twirling his pen around in his fingers.

"I got held up by one of my dad's talks again."

At his words, Stevie Rae and the Twins nodded in understanding, but Zoey was still in the dark.

"Talks?" she inquired. Damien met her eyes with a half-smile.

"You know, one of those 'Are you _sure_ you have to be gay?' kind of talks. They're a bit of a monthly thing in my house," he explained.

A horrid image of the Step-Loser and his Bible-clutching People of Faith drones flashed in Zoey's head, and then she understood.

"Ah, one of those talks. I'm sorry, Damien," she said. Damien gave her a full smile this time.

"Thanks, Zoey, but it's alright. I'm starting to get used to them by now. My parents aren't telling me I'm doomed to go to Hell or that God will smite me down with his mighty destruction. With them it's just like I'm some kind of unexpected new puppy that they don't quite know how to handle."

"Don't worry about your poopy-headed parents, Damien," Stevie Rae said. "You've got us!"

"And we're only semi poopy-headed," Erin teased, flicking her eyes at Shaunee good-naturedly in remembrance of their tussle earlier.

Zoey smiled, happy that with each passing day she felt more and more at home with the group she thought she didn't have a chance to fit into.

As the tardy bell rang, Mr. Harrond came striding into the room carrying a stack of papers probably fresh off the copier.

"Guess what," he said quickly, before the morning announcements had a chance to blare over the P.A. system.

There was a devious, child-like glint in his eyes, and Zoey found herself excitedly anticipating what he was about to say. Mr. Harrond was harsh with grading and demanded a lot of his students when it came to work, but he was still one of the coolest teachers Zoey had ever had.

He dramatically paused for effect as everyone looked expectantly at him, then blurted "Movie night!" just before the intercom buzzed.

The class broke out into excited murmurs as the announcements started to sound. Mr. Harrond went around the room and handed out the sheets, which contained more information about the movie night. The announcements ended by the time he made his way back to the front of the room, and he gave the students a few minutes to read over everything.

"...'Last of the Mohicans?'" Shaunee read aloud, raising an eyebrow. "Like those god awful shoes? Cause I would LOVE to see the last of those fashion disasters, let me tell you."

"Those would be 'moccasins', honey," Damien said quietly.

"But didn't the Mohicans wear moccasins?" Erin mused. "I feel like the Mohicans should've worn moccasins."

"Please. You would not catch me wearing those even if they crowned me their honorary chocolate-colored Mohican princess."

Zoey chuckled.

"They're actually pretty comfortable. Definitely not a fashion statement, but great to kick up your feet and watch a movie in," she said.

Shaunee widened her eyes in mock astonishment.

"Why, Zoey, are YOU the last of the Mohicans? ?" she teased. Zoey laughed along with everyone else.

"Nope, just Cherokee."

Erin narrowed her eyes in concentration, studying Zoey like she was last night's forgotten homework.

"Yeah, I kinda see it," the blonde mused. "You look a little Cherokee-ish."

"Rather Cherokee-ish," Erin's twin added.

Once the class had settled down, Mr. Harrond spoke up.

"So as you can see, the first of this year's many movie nights will be on Monday of next week. It starts at 5:30 and can probably be expected to end around 8, so it's not mandatory that you attend. This is strictly an extra credit thing. Half of your grade will be showing up and watching the movie, and the other half will be the one page essay due by next Thursday at the very latest."

He paused to answer some questions, during which time Stevie Rae looked at her friends excitedly, making plans with her eyes.

"The desks will be moved out of the way so everyone can have room on the floor," Mr. Harrond continued. "Feel free to bring your own food, pillows, blankets, and anything you need to be comfortable. So, if you plan on coming, start clearing your schedules and I'll see you next Monday. Now, homework time. Take it out and pass it up."

Backpacks shuffled as homework was wrenched free from various folders and binders. Stevie Rae, however, turned to look at the gang, positively buzzing with excitement.

"So, is it a date?" she asked simply, hoping to enjoy a fun after school evening with all of her friends.

"It's a date," Damien smiled.

"Count us in!" the Twins said as they passed up their forged homework. Then all four of them turned expectantly to Zoey.

Zoey looked up from her binder to see Stevie Rae giving her a sad smile.

"I mean, I know you're starting to get swamped with homework, so it's okay if you just want to take the day to catch up, but..."

"Are you kidding?" Zoey hastily said. "My first movie night with my friends- -even if it IS a school movie night- -is more important than homework, I can finish that anytime. I'll be there."

Stevie Rae bounced in her seat like a happy Golden Retriever, and Zoey could feel the excitement radiating throughout herself, too. Just chilling with the gang, watching a movie and making jokes about the ridiculously overdramatic scenes like a regular, normal girl...it sounded great to her. Still struggling to get her feet on the ground in a new school, Zoey was ready to jump at the chance to feel like an average teenager and enjoy her high school life.

Then she remembered that she needed to talk to a psychic to learn more about her visions of monsters.

* * *

"You know, for someone who always shows up uninvited, you're pretty hard to find when I actually need to see you."

Zoey had managed to spot Aphrodite in the hallway after 2nd period, and she hurriedly weaved through the masses of students to catch the blonde before she left her locker.

Aphrodite turned her head to see who was talking to her, and when she saw it was Zoey she screwed up her face like the smell of something nasty had just come drifting over.

"You know, our little chat yesterday wasn't an invitation for you to keep talking to me," she sneered, stuffing various books into her locker and taking others out.

"Trust me, not even a court order could get me to keep talking to you," Zoey retorted. "But..."

She leaned in closer to Aphrodite, causing Barbie Girl to reflexively back away like Zoey had some kind of disease.

"I need to know more about your vision," Zoey said quietly, lowering her voice. Aphrodite suddenly looked irritated.

"I don't know anything more. What I told you yesterday is all I saw," she slammed her locker shut and then took off down the hall.

Zoey trailed after her, struggling to stay within talking distance but also trying to stay far enough behind that she didn't look like some desperate loser chasing after the popular crowd.

"Okay, okay, I understand," Zoey said hastily, not wanting to piss off Aphrodite until she heard what she needed. "Just tell me this: do your visions always come true?"

"Yes," the blonde answered simply, making no effort to let Zoey catch up to her.

"Isn't there anything someone can do to avoid it?"

"Of course there was, back when things weren't all muddled and confusing. I could tell you to avoid being in a certain place at a certain time, but there WAS no place or time in this vision. You were someplace, monster found you, monster got you, the end. That was all."

Despite Aphrodite's finality on the matter, Zoey still wasn't convinced.

"But if your visions have started to become foggy...maybe that means your power is fading! Maybe your vision was inaccurate!"

"Zoey, I don't know!" Aphrodite stopped and turned around to face the brunette, the irritation in her eyes replaced with exasperation. "If you want to write the whole thing off, be my guest. If you want to keep your guard up, go ahead, I don't care what you do. Now leave me alone," she turned and stormed off. Zoey didn't follow.

If Zoey had any suspicions that Aphrodite was just making up the whole visions and monsters story as an elaborate prank to freak her out, they were gone now. The look on Aphrodite's face told Zoey that she really did have visions of things, and was growing more and more frustrated that she was powerless to do anything about them. Which meant that something really _was_ going to come after Zoey at some point in time.

_Well, hell._


	4. In the Dark

"Is this over yet, Twin?" Erin whispered.

"I wish I could tell you, Twin," Shaunee grumbled back.

The much-anticipated Monday movie night had arrived, and the Nerd Herd was in full attendance. At the very back of the room, the Twins were taking turns using each other as pillows and Zoey sat comfortably against the back wall with Stevie Rae and Damien on either side of her.

"A few minutes ago you were drooling over Daniel Day Lewis and wishing he could stay on screen forever," Damien said, ignoring the dirty look from Stevie Rae (who was completely engrossed in the movie and not at all appreciative of the gang's constant interruptions).

Zoey, who had seen the movie before, was only there for the extra credit and the chance to hang out with her friends. Her only concern at the moment was making it home in time for a late-night cereal snack; the McDonald's Stevie Rae had brought to share with her had run its course about an hour ago, and now Zoey's stomach was gurgling awkwardly during the quiet scenes of the movie.

"What time is it?" Erin groaned, not done with her complaining.

"Almost 8," Zoey answered, glancing quickly at her phone. "We started later than expected."

The Twins let out a simultaneous sigh, and resigned themselves to just staring blankly at the whiteboard as the overhead projector shot the movie onto it.

When the credits finally started to roll, Erin and Shaunee were the first ones to their feet. Stevie Rae was practically fawning over the movie as Damien helped pull Zoey up from her comfy spot on the floor.

"Wasn't that just the bee's knees? I didn't know historical movies were so interesting! It had like, a kind of vibe, ya know? It was almost like- -"

"What_ever_, Stevie Rae," Shaunee rolled her eyes at the blonde bumpkin. "You can stay here and rewatch it to your heart's content, but we're out of here."

Mr. Harrond flipped on the light switch, causing half the kids to start blinking furiously and rubbing their eyes.

"Remember, this is only half of your grade. Your paper is due by Thursday, and you can find the writing prompt online. Come to class tomorrow prepared to go through a quick discussion on the historical significance of the movie," he started gathering up his things like the rest of the kids, clearly ready to go home as well.

He went to stand outside the classroom door, waiting to lock up as students started trickling into the hallway.

"C'mon, let's go before the Twins lose their minds," Zoey laughed, leading the way to the door. They were the last ones to leave, and Damien clicked off the lights.

"Have a good evening, you all," Mr. Harrond said as he locked the classroom door.

"Later, Mr. H," the Twins said back.

There were a pair of doors almost caddy-corner to the World History room that exited to the far west end of the parking lot, and the gang started to head towards them.

"Oh, shoot!" Zoey exclaimed. "I almost forgot to grab my Algebra textbook. I left it in my locker since I knew I was going to be here after school. You guys go on ahead, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye Zoey!" Stevie Rae waved.

"Bye," Zoey said back, waving her goodbyes to the rest of the gang before turning and making her way to her locker.

"Okay, make this quick," she said quietly to herself, practically power-walking down the hallway and around the corner.

It was nighttime outside, and the deserted school left only a few hallways lit at night. Her footsteps echoed eerily in the silence, and the whole environment gave Zoey the uncomfortable feeling that she was the only person left in the world (or the only person left to face the zombies that usually came out around this time in the movies). Once she reached her locker, she hurriedly stuffed her textbook into her backpack and shut the locker door, flinching slightly as the noise reverberated off the walls.

"Chill out, Zoey," she said aloud to herself, in an attempt to break the silence and calm her nerves. "You're here for seven hours a day, it's not any creepier at night."

Almost as if on cue, a classroom door slowly swung open behind her, and Zoey squealed like a little girl, practically jumping out of her shoes and pulling off a 180 degree turn in mid-air.

"Fucking hell!" a surprised Aphrodite exclaimed as Zoey's heart leapt into her throat.

"Aphrodite! !" Zoey yelled, bringing a hand to her chest to make sure she didn't go into cardiac arrest. "You scared the poo out of me!"

"What are you, a five year old? ?" Aphrodite yelled back, having her own mini panic attack and mocking Zoey's choice of curse words. "If anyone's being scared shitless around here, it's me! What the hell are you doing here!?"

Zoey took her time to respond, giving her heart rate a chance to slow down.

"I was at an extra credit movie night, what's your excuse?" she answered.

In the blink of an eye, Aphrodite had turned back into her normal, Bitch Queen self.

"It's none of your business, and I'm really getting tired of seeing you all the damn time," she snapped.

Zoey repressed the urge to take advantage of the empty school and punch Aphrodite right in the face, but she still shot her an angry glare.

"You're the one lurking around the school at night like some kind of creeper."

"And already, I'm bored of this conversation," Aphrodite said airily, leaving Zoey behind and rounding the corner to head towards the parking lot exit by the World History room.

Zoey wanted to listen to the part of her that said to just let Aphrodite be and leave for home like a good little girl, but the blonde had finally made her snap. She stormed after the Hag from Hell, catching up to her just before she opened the door.

"Listen up, Aphrodite!" she said sternly.

Aphrodite turned to look at Zoey with a bored expression on her face, like she was humoring a child that wanted to show her a cheap magic trick.

"I tried to be a decent person, because you've clearly got issues and I didn't want to get involved in any drama at a school I just started. But I'm tired of you always getting in my face, and messing with my friends, and just being a complete bitch like you own the freaking world or something! You are the most pretentious, self-centered, arrogant- -"

Zoey's rant was interrupted by a strange sound that came from the very end of the hallway to her right. Another door was opening, ever so slowly, creaking menacingly like it belonged in an old-time horror movie. The girls both whipped their heads in the direction of the noise, and Zoey's childlike fear of being in an empty school at night had returned. The hallway they were staring down was dark and unlit; Zoey could just barely make out the shape of the open door way at the very end of the hall.

"...Who else would be at school this late?" Zoey asked timidly, forgetting her anger towards Aphrodite as a wave of semi-irrational panic slowly overtook her.

"No one," Aphrodite answered, squinting into the darkness to see what was going on.

Then they saw it.

A figure was emerging from the room, stepping out into the dark hall. It was hunched over, moving slowly and awkwardly like it was in some kind of pain. The girls stood frozen, watching the figure shuffle down the hallway towards them. A single thought ran through Zoey's mind.

"Is that the thing from your vision?" she whispered, afraid to hear the answer.

"Can't be," Aphrodite said quietly. "I didn't see _myself_ in my vision, you were alone."

"Zoooo...eeeey..."

The thing was coming closer and closer to them, growling Zoey's name in a low, guttural voice.

"Well, Vision Girl, it looks like your powers might be in need of an update," Zoey said reproachfully, starting to inch backwards down the hall. Aphrodite shook her head in irritation.

"I'm telling you, whatever I saw in my vision was only attacking _you_! I was nowhere near! This can't be my vision coming true!" she snapped, sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than Zoey.

"Aphroooditeeee..."

The blonde's eyes narrowed dangerously as the creature started to call her name as well.

"You've got to be kidding me," she growled. "As if I've got nothing better to do than be chased around by some stupid mystery vision monster that wasn't even supposed to be coming after me in the first place!"

_Is she seriously making this about herself right now? ?_

There was a loud bang as a second creature suddenly appeared outside and hurled itself at the doors, trying to force its way into the building. It was a man, with a red crescent moon mark in the center of his forehead, from which an intricate crimson tattoo pattern spilled down either side of his face.

"Run! !" Zoey yelled, grabbing Aphrodite's wrist and taking off in the opposite direction.

"This doesn't make any sense!" Aphrodite said over the sound of their sprinting footsteps. Around the corner, the pair could hear the sounds of the first creature letting in the second, and then both of them started to chase after the girls at an unnaturally fast pace. "This isn't what I saw in my vision at all!"

"Maybe you need new batteries," Zoey grumbled sarcastically, pulling Aphrodite along as she took as many twists and turns as she could to try and lose the creatures behind them. But despite that, the girls could still hear the strange men in hot pursuit close by.

"If we could just make it to my car..." Zoey panted, a slight panic taking over her as she realized that with all the numerous dark hallways and unlit corridors she had no idea where another exit was.

"What, the Insect-Mobile?" Aphrodite sneered. "Those things would flip your car like a pancake before you could even start it up!"

"Excuse me, it is called a Bug! And it drives just fine, for your information!"

With an annoyed huff, Aphrodite pulled Zoey to a stop and yanked her wrist out of the brunette's grip.

"What are we running for?" Aphrodite yelled. "You're the one with the magic powers here, so get with it, Power Freak!"

Zoey blinked dumbly, like she had completely forgotten about her elemental control.

"Oh yeah," she said breathlessly, then moved to stand in front of Aphrodite and face the way they had just come.

_Please let this work..._

The footsteps and inhuman growls were just around the corner, and with one final wave of panic quickly rushing through her, Zoey squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated with all her might.

"Fire, I summon you! !" she called out.

Instantly, flames erupted around Zoey's hands; not the sudden rush of heat that she usually felt, but bonafide fire, flickering and dancing around like her hands were candle wicks. Aphrodite jumped back in surprise at the sight of the blaze, but Zoey kept her focus. The flames didn't hurt her at all, and even though she had never experienced anything like this with her elemental powers, she somehow knew exactly what to do.

The two creatures came barreling around the corner, skidding almost comically to a stop as they spotted the flames that Zoey had at the ready. Narrowing their blood-red eyes, they hissed menacingly while slowly backing away in caution.

"Zooooeeey! !"

"Aphroooditeee! !"

"Don't worry, they won't come any closer," Zoey said calmly, feeling the power of the elements giving her a sense of strength and security.

Aphrodite was glancing around the hallway, trying to gauge which exit was the closest to their current position.

"I'm not planning on sticking around long enough to find out," she said hurriedly. Zoey shook her head without taking her eyes off the snarling figures in front of her.

"No, I mean I KNOW they won't come any closer, they're afraid of the fire. Now listen, I have an idea."

She took a cautious step backwards, raising her hands in front of her protectively, which caused the creatures to crouch down low with a hiss.

"On the count of three," Zoey said, taking another small step backwards, "run towards the back parking lot exit."

"The back parking lot?"

"Right, where all the trees are at. On three..."

Another step backwards.

"One..."

Another step.

"Two..."

Another.

"Three! !"

Aphrodite took off running. In one swift motion, Zoey shook out her hands and turned on her heels, doing away with the fire before sprinting after Aphrodite.

"What are you doing!?" the blonde yelled over her shoulder. "Why didn't you attack them!?"

"I can't!" Zoey yelled back.

They could hear the creatures close behind, resuming their chase.

"What do you mean you can't? ?"

"Just run!"

Feeling like she was running out of air and couldn't move her legs any faster, a surge of relief coursed through her as the doors to their freedom came into view. The girls sprinted through them and into the cool night outside, but Zoey knew they weren't in the clear yet. In the grass around her were piles of dry August leaves that had fallen from the trees, which she quickly kicked onto the concrete pavement in front of the doors. Like the Human Torch, she summoned fire again and shot out a stream of flames from her fingertips onto the pile of leaves. A small, isolated fire started to burn in front of the doors, and the pair watched as the creatures came to an abrupt halt on the other side and cowered backwards at the sight of the blaze, hissing and snarling.

"Way to go, you little arsonist," Aphrodite sneered, trying to catch her breath.

"You wanna stay here and get eaten? Be my guest, I'm sure they love the taste of cow."

"Clever. Now come on."

Zoey raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You want to be the shrimp appetizer? Move it or lose it before they find another way out," Aphrodite said, hurrying down the parking lot.

Zoey quickly followed after, and spotted Aphrodite's Lexus sitting all by itself at the end of the row. Aphrodite hastily unlocked the car and the pair climbed inside.

"Keep your feet off the seats and your flammable hands off the glass," the blonde said as she buckled up and revved up the car (which, Zoey grudgingly admitted to herself, really did start up faster than her own little Bug). Aphrodite stomped on the gas, and the Lexus shot forward and squealed off of school grounds.

"Now talk, Power Freak," Aphrodite snapped as the car flirted dangerously with the speed limit. "What the fuck just happened back there? Why didn't you torch those monsters?"

Zoey hesitated a moment before answering.

"Because they weren't monsters. They were vampyres."

Zoey cautiously glanced at Aphrodite out of the corner of her eye, expecting some kind of "Vampyres aren't real" protest from the girl.

"Zoey, I stopped being skeptical when the 3D Sensurround Vision Theater started to take over my head," she said simply, catching the brunette's expression. "And the last time I checked, vampyres _are _monsters."

"In Hollywood horror land, maybe," Zoey shrugged. "Real life, not so much. My grandma taught me about them. Vampyres are humans who have been Marked by the goddess of night. They undergo all these changes, and then they become vampyres. They're technically a different species, but they're not monsters. So even if they were chasing after us, they were still people...I couldn't hurt them."

Zoey cast another anxious look at Aphrodite, waiting for an insult or derogatory statement about her soft-heartedness, but to her amazement, the blonde looked surprisingly understanding.

_Huh...maybe that means she's not a COMPLETE psychopath._

"I saw one outside my neighborhood in Oklahoma City once," Zoey continued. "I recognized it from my grandma's stories. But it was the first time I'd ever seen one in my entire life, and shortly after that we moved here, so I thought it was just some freak coincidence. But now..."

She took a deep breath and cast her gaze out the passenger side window.

"It looks like they might be trying to capture me. Or, you know, just kill me."

"Big whoop about you, those freaks were calling _my_ name too," Aphrodite said, in typical disregard for anything pertaining to Zoey. "And unlike you, I don't have some mystical whatever to protect me from creatures of the night."

Zoey crossed her arms in irritation and glared at Aphrodite.

"If you were anything resembling a decent human being I'd offer to play bodyguard, but since you're such a spiteful hag I think I'll let you take your chances."

"Please, as if I'd want you trailing after me all the time like some fashion-challenged Rottweiler."

The girls exchanged one final scowl at each other, and then were silent for the rest of the ride.

* * *

In all the chaos of escaping from the vampyres, Zoey didn't even think to ask where they were going. But when Aphrodite finally eased up on the gas pedal and turned the Lexus into a neighborhood that looked like the Oklahoma version of Hollywood Hills, Zoey broke the silence between her and Vision Girl.

"Uh...where exactly are we?" she asked, sitting up in her seat and craning her neck to watch the ginormous houses pass by the window. Aphrodite didn't answer until she pulled into the driveway (one of the driveways, at least) of what was easily the biggest house on the street.

"My place," the blonde said simply. Zoey's jaw dropped. She knew Aphrodite and her family were rich, but there was a difference between knowing someone was rich and seeing rich right in front of you with a bajillion cable satellites on the roof.

"You live here? ?" Zoey sat gaping at the mansion.

Aphrodite un-clicked her seatbelt and got out of the car, and after shaking herself out of her daze, Zoey did the same. Aphrodite pressed the button on her car keys and the Lexus locked up with a cheerful little beep (which seemed strikingly inappropriate for something belonging to the Bitch Queen).

"It's just a house," Aphrodite said expressionlessly as she followed Zoey's gaze and studied the mansion like she'd never gotten a good look at it before.

"Just a house? ? Aphrodite, this is a freaking castle! !"

Aphrodite rolled her eyes, but something flashed across her face for a fraction of a second- -a tiny little half-smile.

_Whoa, did she just...?_

Zoey caught the expression out of the corner of her eye, and was about to say something about it when another thought suddenly popped into her head.

"Crap, my car is still at the school..." she readjusted her backpack on her shoulders. "I guess I'd better start walking, then."

"What?" Aphrodite gave her a snarky look, like she had just suggested going to a dive bar and sitting with smelly drunks all night.

Zoey narrowed her eyes.

"Well, you didn't want to take the Bug, and I still have to get home and- -"

"Don't be a dumbass."

Zoey huffed in irritation and puffed up like an angry cat.

"You know, you don't always have to be so darn mean to me," she pouted.

"I do when you're being a dumbass. It's after 9 and some more vampyres could be lurking around anywhere. You can stay here for the night," Aphrodite offered, albeit a little grudgingly. She started to head up the driveway, and Zoey followed after.

"You'd let me stay here?" she asked in disbelief.

"Like I said last week, I don't need the police questioning me if they find your body floating in the river. And besides, in a house like this you could have a room a whole zip code away from me."

"That's so sweet of you," Zoey said sarcastically as Aphrodite entered a code into a fancy looking keypad and unlocked the front door.

Walking inside felt like stepping into an episode of MTV Cribs, and Zoey did her best to keep from gaping like an idiotic fish at the luxury of Aphrodite's home. Thankfully, the blonde didn't give her much of a chance to embarrass herself.

"The guest rooms are up here," Aphrodite lead the way up a massive staircase. "You'd think my parents were running a hotel the way we have all this extra space just sitting around."

On the second floor, Zoey followed Vision Girl down one of the numerous hallways until she stopped and opened up a door at the very end. Zoey timidly poked her head in, staring in awe at the wide, well-decorated space complete with its own wall-mounted flat screen. Her eyes traveled over the ridiculously comfy looking king sized bed, which gave Zoey the feeling that if she fell asleep in that thing she would never get up from it again.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to stay here?" Zoey cautiously stepped inside the room, feeling a strong urge to flop ungracefully onto the bed but also feeling afraid to touch anything.

"There's brand new clothes in the closet, so you don't have to worry about pajamas; brand new everything in the bathroom, so that's all set...really, this place is just like a hotel. Except I don't do room service, so if your ass isn't out of bed in the morning I'm leaving for school without you."

_How about that, she was almost close to being a civilized person for a second there._

"Thanks, Aphrodite," Zoey said, right before her stomach let out an embarrassingly loud growl. She suddenly remembered how hungry she had been before she was unceremoniously attacked by vampyres. "Um...I don't suppose rich, high-society girls like you have any cereal lying around, do you?"

"Rich, high-society girls like me can have cereal hand-delivered to our front doors at 3 in the morning if we wanted to," Aphrodite said before she turned and motioned for Zoey to follow her back down the hall. Zoey took the opportunity to do more shameless gawking.

_How is she so cranky all the time when THIS is what she gets to come home to everyday? ? If I got to live here instead of the House from Hell with my mindless mom and the Step-Loser...I definitely wouldn't be whirling around like a snarky blonde tornado the way Aphrodite does._

Downstairs, the kitchen was just as unbelievable as the rest of the house. Like Aphrodite said, it looked like it was built to feed a small hotel instead of a family of three. When Zoey opened up the pantry, she found that it wasn't so much a pantry as it was a whole other room just filled with food.

"How she stays so skinny with all this food lying around, I'll never know," Zoey muttered to herself as she fished out a box of Count Chocula. She turned around to see Aphrodite setting out a bowl and spoon for her, and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Look at you, being all nice," she teased.

"Say what you want about me, but us high-society girls are also forced to be good hostesses, no matter how displeasing the company," the blonde said with a scowl.

"Yeah, well, maybe if you were like this more often I wouldn't have to yell at you so much."

"Don't hold your breath."

With a pompous supermodel hair flip, Aphrodite left the kitchen, leaving Zoey all alone. Casting another impressed glance around the room, Zoey laughed half-heartedly to herself.

"If the gang ever found out I went this far into enemy territory..." she muttered.

The words "enemy territory" reminded her of the vampyres, and a rush of scattered thoughts ran through her head as she poured milk over her cereal.

_Those vampyres knew my name, and Aphrodite's too. I think they knew we would both be at the school alone, and they were waiting for us._

Zoey frowned in thought. She was just a little girl the last time her grandmother told her about vampyres, and the details were a little fuzzy. But in spite of that, she couldn't think of a single reason why they would spend their time hunting down a couple of teenagers (okay, so Zoey and Aphrodite weren't exactly your average run-of-the-mill teenagers, but still).

She sighed, and absentmindedly swirled her cereal around with her spoon.

"Something is going on here...and I wish I knew what..."


	5. Beauty and the Beasts

"No, Aphrodite, vampyres can't come out during the daytime," Zoey was saying for the hundredth time as she found herself back in the passenger's seat of Aphrodite's car.

They had survived the evening without becoming a snack for the bloodsucking creatures of the night, and were now returning back to school. Zoey was sleepy, a little grumpy, and not at all in the mood for whatever attitude Aphrodite would eventually throw at her (it turns out that the plush king sized bed was as amazing as it looked and Zoey was not a happy camper when it was time for her to get up and leave the comfy paradise).

"So you say, but if I turn around and see that some snarling, sparkly shit is running towards me- -"

"Vampyres don't sparkle," Zoey groaned, staring out the window and wishing that the car ride could be a silent one.

"Yeah, that's what everyone else thought before those damn movies came out," Aphrodite scowled.

Maybe it was the fact that she was delirious from having to wake up from her amazing sleep, but aside from the incessant comments, Zoey didn't find Aphrodite quite so annoying today. Now, if the girl tried to turn on Bitch Mode, Zoey wouldn't hesitate to go all EF4 on her perfect blonde hair, but just sitting next to her wasn't making Zoey feel like getting doused in gasoline and setting herself on fire.

A block down from the school, Aphrodite pulled the car over to the sidewalk and glanced at Zoey out of the corner of her eye with a holier-than-thou expression on her face.

"You can walk to school from here. I don't want anyone seeing me hanging out with the likes of you," she said airily.

Zoey rolled her eyes but nevertheless unfastened her seatbelt, glad for a chance to let the fresh air wake her up and clear her head.

"Thanks for keeping me from getting eaten last night," Zoey said as she opened up her door and stepped onto the sidewalk.

Aphrodite hesitated for a moment before saying "Same goes to you."

Then Zoey shut the door, and the Lexus roared off down the street and around the corner to the school.

_It looks like things are back to normal for now. At least until tonight, anyway, there might be more vampyres coming after me. But wouldn't Aphrodite have another vision if I was still in danger? Well, that's assuming her visions aren't going on the fritz...and assuming she'll take the time out of her oh-so-busy schedule to warn me again..._

Zoey sighed as her feet carried her to the school parking lot.

_Just get through today. Focus on school and we'll cross the vampyre bridge when we get to it._

* * *

Zoey found Stevie Rae waiting in the hall for her like a loyal, curly-haired puppy when 3rd period let out.

"I heard we're supposed to be starting an essay project in class today," the country girl said as she and Zoey started walking to English together.

"Seriously? It's only the 3rd week of school," Zoey groaned, feeling more and more like her life was about to crash into a wall like a mack truck. "Essays are so boring, though. They're easy, but I just hate writing them."

"I think they're kinda fun to write when you have Damien as your own personal thesaurus," Stevie Rae giggled.

When they reached the English hallway they stepped inside their classroom and took their seats next to Damien and the Twins.

"Hey ya'll," Stevie Rae greeted them. Shaunee ignored her and threw a pouty glare at Zoey.

"Thanks for not helping me out during the movie discussion in first period, Zoey," she said sarcastically. Zoey merely shrugged and smiled.

"Mr. Harrond called on _you_ to answer the question, you know I couldn't help you without him knowing."

Damien wagged his finger reproachfully at Shaunee.

"You should've been paying attention to the movie, honey," he scolded.

The bell rang then, and an impossibly gorgeous woman strode confidently into the room. All eyes followed her as her immense presence filled the room like a comforting wave of heat. She wore a black pantsuit made of a shimmery material that reminded Zoey of staring into the night sky, and the auburn waves of her hair spiraled gracefully down past her shoulders. She stood behind the teacher's desk at the front of the room and gazed at them all with shining, moss green eyes.

"Good morning," she said with a radiating smile.

The class, who for the most part had been staring in awe at the woman with movie star good looks, felt compelled to mumble a few timid "good mornings" in return.

"My name is Neferet. I will be taking over as your English teacher for the rest of the school year," she said coolly.

As expected, the typical whispers and murmurs of confusion that accompany such an announcement broke out among most of the students. Neferet allowed the chatter to go on as the news sunk in, during which time Damien took the opportunity to raise his hand like a good little student.

"Ms. Neferet?"

"Just Neferet will be fine, Damien," she smiled warmly at him, and her voice silenced the rest of the class. Damien blinked dumbly up at her.

"How did you know my name?" he asked.

Neferet gave a small laugh that sounded to Zoey like the tinkling sounds of a crystal chandelier.

"How could I not know your name? As one of the most intelligent and promising students in your grade, quite possibly in all the grades, you are well-known and valued among the staff."

Damien blushed and smiled sheepishly, forgetting his thought, but Zoey was looking over Neferet in confusion.

"Um, what happened to Mrs. Stewart?" she asked warily (Zoey remembered this exact same situation occurring on an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in which the new teacher turned out to be a giant praying mantis, so naturally she was a little concerned).

"I'm sorry Zoey, but I'm honestly not aware of your previous teacher's situation."

Zoey's expression mirrored Damien's when she heard Neferet call her by name too.

"I was merely told that a position had opened up, and here I am," Neferet continued, spreading her arms wide and gesturing to the whole room.

She stepped away from the front desk and began to walk around the room, carrying herself with the sophisticated grace of a queen. Heads turned and necks craned to follow her every move up and down the aisles of students.

"Now, some of you may have heard that Mrs. Stewart had planned a rather complex writing assignment for you to complete. But what do you really learn from writing essays?"

"How to copy and paste from Wikipedia," Erin muttered under her breath. A quick smile touched the corners of Neferet's lips before she continued speaking.

"You learn essential composition and grammar skills that are necessary in many aspects of your life, true," she nodded to herself. "But because of the way the school opts to teach you, what you are really doing is learning to _build_ writing, to pick out the essential ingredients needed to produce a paper that serves only to be marked as 'acceptable' or 'unacceptable' by the one who is handing out a grade. I find that the American education system is seriously flawed in this way."

"I think I'm likin' where this is going, Twin," Shaunee whispered. Erin nodded enthusiastically.

The class was practically entranced by Neferet's words, and she was obviously pleased by her effortless ability to command their attention.

"What you will learn in my class is how to _feel_ writing; how to take a memory, or an emotion, and bring it to life in full color on a blank sheet of paper. Writing should not turn you into a construction worker; putting together bits and pieces according to a strict and uniform blueprint. Writing should turn you into an artist, painting your colors in any way you please onto the empty and waiting canvas of the world around you. I feel that this is how all aspects of school should be taught, rather than placing total emphasis on how well you do on standardized testing or how much information you can absorb and then spit back out like a copy machine."

Sitting in front of Zoey, Stevie Rae looked like she was ready to just explode out of her seat and start penning the next Great American Novel. Any suspicions Zoey harbored of Neferet being an evil bug lady had disappeared at this point, and she was watching her with just as much rapt attention as every other student in the room. She was one of those rare teachers who genuinely wanted you to learn just for the sake of learning and have fun doing it, instead of just pumping you full of facts and knowledge so they could show off your test scores to the rest of the world.

Neferet flashed a beaming smile at all of them, her face lighting up like that of a goddess.

"Now then, let's begin."

* * *

"That was truly prodigious! !" Damien squealed happily as the gang was making their way down to the cafeteria.

"That Neferet is one badass teach," Shaunee agreed. "That may have been the best class period I've ever had in my entire life."

Stevie Rae was bouncing in her steps, excited and giddy like a kid on Christmas.

"Y'all, wasn't she just...and the way she...and how we all...ya know what I mean? ?"

Zoey laughed, and was about to offer up her own shining review of their new English teacher when something stopped her in her tracks. There was a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, like some invisible force had dragged her to a stop and didn't want her to continue any further. Her friends managed to get a few steps ahead of her before Erin noticed her lagging behind.

"Hey Zoey, let's get going. I'm starving," she said. But Zoey only half-heard her.

_Something's not right..._

The strange feeling continued to tug at her, almost wanting her to double back. Zoey knew herself well enough to know that the mysterious feelings she sometimes got were not something to be ignored.

"You guys...you guys go on ahead. I left something back in the classroom. Save me a seat," she lied, distracted by the gut feeling that clearly was urging her to retrace her steps. The gang looked over her in concern, but eventually they nodded and proceeded down to the cafeteria without her.

The number of students in the hallway was thinning, and Zoey weaved her way in and around them to wherever her instincts were telling her to go. She wound up in front of the door of a cluttered storeroom when the strange feeling screamed at her to stop. Confused, Zoey peered through the door's little window and saw only old and broken desks and equipment in the dimly lit room. The hallway was completely empty now, and Zoey tried the door handle. It was unlocked, and she cautiously stepped inside. She didn't even have a chance to look around before she heard a weird noise coming from the back of the room, and turned around to see what was causing it.

"Aphrodite!"

She rushed to the back of the room, where the blonde was sunken on the floor and huddled in a corner. Her eyes were completely bloodshot and her breath was coming in short, irregular gasps. Zoey dropped to her knees beside her.

"Hey, what happened? ?" she asked urgently, trying to get Aphrodite to focus on her.

"Vision...horrible, horrible vision," Aphrodite said through clenched teeth, like just forming words was a struggle for her.

"What did you see?" Zoey urged.

"Vampyres...so many vampyres...almost like a whole army...the last two weren't just a freak occurrence, they're being lead by someone, someone who wants to capture the two of us...I think it was a woman, but I couldn't see...I can't be sure..."

She let out an anguished cry of frustration and held her head in her hands.

"Why can't I do this anymore!?" she yelled. Zoey took Aphrodite's wrists and pulled her hands back down, looking seriously into her face.

"Aphrodite, it's okay," she said steadily, trying to calm the girl down. "You saw all that you could, you can't go back and see anymore."

Aphrodite's breathing was starting to return to normal, and Zoey let go of her.

"They aren't acting on their own," Aphrodite continued, squeezing her eyes shut like she actually _was _trying to go back and see more of her vision. "They're like minions, doing the dirty work of whoever they serve...and that someone is definitely after the both of us."

Zoey swallowed hard.

"You said it was a woman?"

"I don't know...everything was dark, and faces were blurry...I thought I heard a woman's laugh, but I don't know who it came from...I just can't see anything anymore!" she yelled again.

"Aphrodite, calm down, it's alright," Zoey said firmly. "We'll figure out what's going on, don't worry."

The blonde opened her eyes, still blood-red and irritated.

"Okay, come on," Zoey said, rising to her feet. Aphrodite looked up at her.

"What?"

"We're going down to lunch, I want to keep an eye on you," Zoey explained. Aphrodite scowled at her.

"I'm fine. I don't need your help."

Zoey ignored her. She crouched down and slung Aphrodite's arm over her shoulder to help the girl up to her feet.

"I'm not leaving you by yourself, you can barely stand," Zoey pointed out as Aphrodite's unbalance almost toppled them over.

"There is no way in hell I'm going to sit around with you and the Nerd Herd!" Vision Girl snapped.

"The choice isn't really up to you right now," the brunette grumbled, shifting herself to carry Aphrodite's weight better.

"Zo, I told you, I don't need your help!"

Zoey's eyes widened in surprise.

_Did she...did she just call me Zo?_

It was a little thing, but no one had called her Zo since she was still in Oklahoma City with her old friends. Not even Stevie Rae had thrown in a casual nickname here and there when talking to her. For some strange reason, hearing Aphrodite use one of her nicknames made Zoey smile.

"Sorry Aphro, but you're coming with me," she said with a smirk, starting to awkwardly hobble towards the door with the blonde in tow.

"What did you call me?" the Queen Mean Girl growled. Zoey looked smug.

"You just called me Zo. I figured you should get a nickname too," she answered matter-of-factly, knowing the dumb name would tick Aphrodite off.

"Call me that again, and I kick your ass," she practically hissed.

"If you're not too busy falling on yours," Zoey retorted, somehow managing to fandangle the door open and stumble into the hall with Aphrodite. The blonde gingerly made an attempt to stand on her own, with much more success the second time around.

"See," she turned her red eyes on Zoey, "I'm fine. I don't need you babysitting me. The effects of the visions never last long."

"Maybe. But if you have another one wouldn't you much rather have me around to help you out instead of hiding in a supply closet all day?"

Aphrodite looked like she was going to make a smartass comment but couldn't think of anything to say, so she just stood there glaring at the Power Freak.

_I can't believe I'm actually trying to get her to stick around..._

"Look," Zoey sighed. "You let me stay at your house last night when you really didn't need to. You could've just as easily let me leave and I probably would've been attacked by more vampyres. So just come with me for one little lunch period so I can make sure you don't go all Paranormal Activity, and we'll be even. Alright?"

Aphrodite's glare became even more hateful.

"You and I will never be anything close to even. But fine. I'll go with you just so you'll leave me the hell alone," she said with a voice that was ice cold. Then she stormed ahead, trekking her own path to the cafeteria instead of waiting around for Zoey to take the lead.

_Good job, Zoey. Trying to look out for the hateful hag who would like nothing more than to wear your entrails as jewelry. One of these days my goody two-shoes are going to get me into serious trouble...I bet the gang is just going to LOVE this._

* * *

"What the HELL is she doing here!?" Stevie Rae yelled, standing up from the lunch table and pointing at Aphrodite in a style remarkably similar to Phoenix Wright.

Zoey was caught off guard at seeing her sweet Okie friend suddenly turn into a country tornado.

"I'm asking myself the same fucking question, Jethro," Aphrodite said coldly, sneering at Stevie Rae. Zoey fixed Aphrodite with a glare of her own.

"Aphrodite, be nice," she scolded, like she was dealing with a rambunctious puppy.

"Ha! Nice isn't in that hag's vocabulary," Shaunee mocked. The Twins were looking at Aphrodite like they were about to leap over the table and rip her luscious blonde locks out.

"Look," Zoey said quickly, before any of her friends had a chance to pounce, "I ran into her in the hallway. She's not feeling too good, I just want to keep her in my sight right now to make sure she's okay."

"Why would you do that? ?" Stevie Rae exclaimed. "You know if the tables were turned she wouldn't do the same for you!"

"Shows what you know," Aphrodite smugly said.

Zoey saw the Twins open their mouths to dish out more insults and quickly interjected before a full-blown catfight could start.

"Which is exactly why I'm being the bigger person. If I left her alone all I'd be doing is stooping to her level," she said, making sure Aphrodite saw the pointed expression on her face.

"You couldn't reach my level if you used a ladder."

Zoey rolled her eyes and pointed at the lunch table.

"Sit down and shut up," she muttered.

"Listen bitch, you don't get to tell me what to- -"

"Unless you want to say hello to a week's worth of frizzy hair, you'll sit down and behave yourself," Zoey subtly threatened the use of her powers, which caused Aphrodite to glare daggers at her but nevertheless take a reluctant seat at the table.

Stevie Rae, Damien, and the Twins automatically scooted their chairs away like the blonde was contagious, but Zoey pulled up a seat next to her and sat down with a weary sigh.

The table was quiet, with Aphrodite and the Nerd Herd exchanging vicious looks like they were in the middle of a high-stakes game of poker and no one wanted to make the first move. Zoey's eyes darted back and forth from her friends to Aphrodite, and she had the uncomfortable feeling that she was sitting in the middle of five ticking time bombs that could go off at any second. She cleared her throat nervously.

"Um, you hungry?" she asked the blonde, trying to diffuse the tension but only making it worse by having the nerve to talk to her.

"No," Aphrodite said flatly. Zoey saw a flash of fire in Shaunee's eyes, and she braced herself for the impact.

"Listen, you skanky hoe-bag! Zoey's trying to be nice to you- -god knows why- -the least you could do is try to be a little civil!" the darker Twin snapped.

"All I did was say no!" Aphrodite retorted.

"It was the way you said it, hag!" Erin added.

Before Aphrodite had a chance to bite Erin's head off too, Zoey finally put her foot down.

"Enough! ! What are you guys, children!? Fine, then I'll treat you like children! Shaunee, Erin, if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all!" she yelled.

The Twins looked mortally offended that Zoey had the nerve to blame them for the argument. Shaunee was about to turn her sass in the brunette's direction, but Damien gently put his hand on her shoulder and spoke up for the first time.

"Maybe it's best if we don't sit with you today, Zoey," he said softly. While Erin, Shaunee, and Stevie Rae looked livid, Damien looked slightly hurt. Zoey's eyes softened.

"You guys, I didn't mean to yell at you, but- -"

"He's right. We understand your intentions, but this isn't going to work," Stevie Rae agreed, gathering up her tray of food. "We'll see you later, Zoey."

Feeling horrible that she had upset her friends, Zoey was going to make a feeble attempt to get them to stay. But after taking all their lunches, the gang mumbled their goodbyes and then left the table, leaving the two girls alone.

"...I told you this was a bad idea," Aphrodite said, breaking the silence of the aftermath.

"You don't always have to be so mean to them. Even if they're the ones that start it," Zoey snapped. "If you and I are on the vampyres' most wanted list, then we're probably going to be stuck together for a while. You all need to learn how to stop butting heads every five seconds."

There was more silence between them, in which Vision Girl and Power Freak just stared down at the table.

"...I really think you should eat something," Zoey finally said after a while.

"No. I'm..."

Aphrodite trailed off as she looked up from the table, and her eyes widened in shock.

"Zoey..." she said quietly, a touch of fear in her voice.

"Huh? What?" Zoey looked up too, following Aphrodite's gaze.

She was staring across the lunchroom, where Neferet was striding briskly through the cafeteria on her way to somewhere, her hair flowing majestically behind her like an auburn river.

"Neferet? She's a new English teacher," Zoey explained, looking confused by the panic that was taking over Aphrodite's features. "What? You feeling nervous that there's someone here who's prettier than you?"

Zoey started to tease the blonde, but was instantly shut up when Aphrodite turned to look at her in complete terror.

"It's her...she's the one from my vision! The one controlling the vampyres!"

"You said you couldn't see who it was," Zoey said, still perplexed by Aphrodite's reaction.

"Not all at once, there were bits and pieces...it was like hearing a name and not recognizing it until you see the face that goes with it, but...it's her, I'm sure of it. I just know."

Zoey shook her head, not convinced.

"There's no way. She just got here today. And she's way too cool to pull off the evil Queen of the Vampyres gig."

Aphrodite narrowed her eyes at Zoey, irritated that she wasn't taking this more seriously.

"She leads the vampyres, and she wants to get her hands on us. You for your powers, me for my visions. I don't know what she plans to do with us, but if she succeeds..."

"I just had a whole class with her, Aphrodite. She's awesome, and I really can't see her leading an army of vampyres just to take down two teenagers. You've been saying your visions have been weird lately, so maybe- -"

"Zoey, come on..." Aphrodite's voice was pleading, and her eyes scared, which took Zoey completely and utterly off guard. "I don't know what her scheme is, but if she manages to get to us, or even one of us, we won't be the only ones in danger. I know that much. You need to be careful around her."

This softer version of Aphrodite was a brand new shock to Zoey, but it was enough to make her take the girl seriously.

"Okay," Zoey nodded. "I'll keep my guard up, and you do the same. All this crap with vampyres and mysterious schemes could get dangerous."

"As if it matters," Aphrodite scoffed, suddenly reverting back to her normal self. "You're the one with the superpowers, all I do is get IMAX headaches in my brain. Watch the poor helpless blonde girl get kidnapped by the undead the second she gets home today."

She said it mockingly, but she still wore a mask of fear as she continued to watch Neferet cross the cafeteria and disappear down a hallway.

Zoey took a deep breath, and let it out in a heavy sigh.

_I should be slapped for what I'm about to do..._

"Would you feel better if I was with you?" Zoey asked, reflexively flinching backwards like she really _was_ expecting Aphrodite to slap her. Instead, the blonde looked at her with an expression that was semi-confused, semi-Bitch Queen.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Aphrodite asked, trying to figure out when exactly Zoey had lost her sanity.

The brunette merely shrugged, trying to hide her embarrassing need to be an upstanding citizen by acting nonchalant.

"It was only yesterday that we were attacked by vampyres who somehow knew we would both be at the school. Maybe today they'll try to hit us where we live. Like you said, you're the one without any 'superpowers', so if they come after you alone- -"

"Are you offering to play bodyguard?" Aphrodite interrupted. "Because I thought a spiteful hag like me was supposed to take my chances."

"Well if you taking your chances means you end up dead or maimed, I don't need the police knocking at my front door," Zoey said humorously, copying Aphrodite's frequent excuse. "So I'm just saying, if you want me to stay over again tonight in case Broken Arrow goes all Night of the Living Dead on us, I'm free."

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and dismissing to 5th period. While the room around them erupted into the sounds of chairs scraping and people leaving, Aphrodite looked thoughtful. Zoey sat there for what seemed like forever to her, waiting for a response. Then finally, Aphrodite spoke up.

"...If you ever tell ANYONE that I let you into my house for two nights in a row, you can count on me having a vision of you falling down a manhole and drowning in the sewers."

Zoey looked smug.

"Is that a yes?" she asked haughtily.

"Only because we can't sit around everyday waiting to get eaten. We need a plan, to find out what we're up against," Aphrodite snapped, not wanting to give Zoey the satisfaction of possibly 1-Upping her. Despite that, Zoey still felt like she had finally managed to come out on top in the battle against Barbie Girl for once.

"Right, planning. Strategizing. You got it, Aphro."

"I told you not to call me that."

"And we're taking my car this time."

"I am NOT getting into the Insect-Mobile!"

"Bug, Aphrodite! Call it a Bug!"

They ended up bickering all the way to Algebra, and Zoey felt an uncomfortable twinge of hurt when she spotted Stevie Rae and the gang leaving the cafeteria without saying a word to her.


	6. Teamwork

Zoey's first month of school had been rather eventful.

She managed to make some new friends, a mortal enemy, find out that her mortal enemy can see the future, become the favorite hunting trophy of pointy-fanged vampyres, and tick off her friends by trying to keep her clairvoyant nemesis from getting eaten alive by said vampyres.

Thankfully for Zoey, she and her friends were back on speaking terms following last week's lunchroom debacle (they still didn't approve of Zoey showing common courtesy to the Wicked Bitch of the West, but at least they weren't holding it totally against her), and now they all sat readily at attention in English class as Neferet read aloud from The Great Gatsby.

Zoey had thought that this particular book would be boring to her, but Neferet's smooth, narrative voice was practically spellbinding, and the little anecdotes she kept pausing to make made it seem like she had actually been there during the Roaring Twenties the story took place in.

Zoey had told Aphrodite that she would be on the lookout around Neferet, but it was just so hard to believe that Neferet was the scary vampyre mastermind from the blonde's latest vision.

_The girl's probably just overworked. Being such a high-strung brat all the time probably screws with your head._

Surprisingly, Zoey felt a little guilty about thinking of Aphrodite as the spiteful Barbie Girl she had been on the first day they met. She was definitely still rough around the edges, but she was actually kind of starting to grow on Zoey. Of course, if she ever tried to admit that out loud, Stevie Rae would grab her lasso and wrangle her into the nearest mental hospital.

When the bell rang to end class, Zoey gathered up her things with a little sigh; she was really starting to hate leaving Neferet's class and wished it could last longer than 45 minutes.

"Are you eating with us today? Or do you have to go to the library again?" Stevie Rae asked, sounding hopefully optimistic that Zoey would be joining them. But Zoey shook her head and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, but I'm still not caught up on my Algebra homework yet," she explained.

Stevie Rae looked disappointed, but nodded in understanding.

"Still a math failure, huh?" Shaunee teased as she came over to join them. They all started to make their way towards the door.

"If you end up getting a hot upperclassmen guy to tutor you, let me know," Erin smiled fiendishly.

"Me too," Damien said, raising an eyebrow in interest.

Zoey was glad that their little spat last week wasn't anything serious, and she genuinely felt bad that she wasn't going down to lunch with them as she waved goodbye and started off towards the library.

She felt even worse that she had lied. Okay, she really was going to spend her lunch period in the library, and she really did have issues in Algebra, but she wasn't going to the library _for_ Algebra. But she couldn't exactly tell her friends that she had been skipping lunch with them for the past few days to join Aphrodite in the library, or that the two of them sat around researching vampyres the whole time. Zoey's knowledge on the subject was rusty, and Aphrodite's was nonexistent, so the Power Duo had agreed that they needed to find out what they were up against.

When Zoey reached the library she found Aphrodite already at one of the computers; kicked back, ridiculously perfect, and filing her nails.

_Are you serious?_

"Could you be any more stereotypical?" Zoey huffed as she walked up to the blonde.

"I could have a giant Starbucks drink in front of me," Aphrodite said airily, not taking her eyes off her impromptu manicure. "But coffee keeps me from getting my beauty sleep."

Zoey rolled her eyes.

"God no, heaven forbid you don't get that," she muttered dryly, taking a seat at the computer next to Aphrodite. "I told you to start without me, why are you just sitting here?"

Aphrodite gave Zoey a disgusted look.

"Do you know how many hygiene-challenged losers use these computers each day? No way in hell am I touching one," she sneered.

"You're killing me, Aphrodite..." Zoey groaned as she logged in to the computer.

"I'd be more worried about what the Nerd Herd is going to do to you when they find out you've been ditching them to hang with the Hag from Hell."

"They think I'm doing my Algebra homework, which is valid, considering I have the math skills of a three year old."

Aphrodite looked up from her nails to watch Google pop up on Zoey's screen, and she smiled wryly.

"I could've offered you help on your first day of school," Aphrodite said mockingly, "but you were so busy being high and mighty that you made me change my mind."

Zoey was only half-listening as she typed "modern day vampyres" into the search bar and hoped for a decent result.

"If by 'help' you mean being such a rich and perfect teacher's pet that they all give you better grades than you deserve, no thanks," Zoey said, scanning through the search results to find something that was a legit site and not just the blog of some creepy goth teenager calling themselves a vampyre.

Aphrodite had a pompous smile on her face.

"I don't cheat, Z. I earn all my grades. I'm the farthest thing from a dumb blonde."

Zoey wasn't convinced, but she did feel that weird twinge of happiness at hearing Aphrodite call her by a nickname again. It made her think that her all-seeing mortal enemy might actually be capable of being a normal human being at times.

"I'll prove it to you," Aphrodite said, breaking Zoey's concentration again. "You Google the creepy-crawlies, and I'll check your math homework to make sure you do it right."

Zoey was getting irritated that Aphrodite wasn't helping with the research, but she figured that if she wasn't going to work she could at least shut up and keep herself out of the way, so Zoey reached down into her backpack with one hand and tossed her Algebra notebook over to Vision Girl.

"Knock yourself out," she mumbled, still scrolling through websites.

Aphrodite got to work looking through Zoey's homework, and Zoey glanced at her out of the corner of her eye and smirked.

"You know this might actually qualify as you being nice, right?" she teased.

"No, this qualifies as me demonstrating one of the many ways I'm superior to you," Aphrodite retorted, quick as a whip.

They worked in silence for a long time, with Zoey's search turning up a whole lot of nothing. In a world where very few people knew of the existence of vampyres, it was hard to find a credible result among all the Buffy references and Twilight fanpages.

"This isn't going so well," Zoey sighed after a while.

Aphrodite looked up from Zoey's notebook, and Zoey could almost see the lightbulb going off above her head.

"House of Night!" the blonde said suddenly.

"...House of who now?" Zoey raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"House of _Night_, moron. Google it. My dad's the mayor of Tulsa, I've heard him mention it a few times, but I couldn't remember the name until just now. Sounds kind of vampyre-ish, right?"

Zoey shrugged.

"One way to find out," she said before typing it in and hitting search. Her eyes lit up as the results filled the screen. "Okay, this looks promising."

Now they were on to something. Aphrodite finally took an interest and read the screen over Zoey's shoulder.

"Okay..." Zoey muttered, reading out loud to herself. "House of Night...school for vampyres...Marked fledglings...they've got these places all over the world. The closest one to us is in Tulsa, that's probably why your dad knows about it."

"Zo, look," Aphrodite interrupted, pointing to a group of pictures at the side of the screen.

"What? Oh, they're just vampyres. Probably teachers at this...school...or whatever it is. Don't see how vampyres can have a school though, because those things that chased after us didn't seem to have much of an attention span. Or, you know, intelligence."

"No, retard, look at the markings," Vision Girl clarified. "Their tattoos are blue, the vamps that have been after us had red ones, so did all the ones in my vision."

Zoey narrowed her eyes, studying the images some more.

"Yeah...you're right. And these vamps...they look pretty human, don't they? Not all wild and animalistic?"

"Which means that the vampyres hunting us..." Aphrodite mused.

"Are something completely different than normal vampyres," Zoey finished for her.

"Great," Aphrodite growled. "Even when it comes to vampyres I get stuck with the freaks."

She shot an insinuating glare at Zoey.

"Don't give me that look, I'm the freak that's been protecting your skinny butt for the past week," the brunette grumbled, shutting down the computer in front of her.

Lunchtime was almost over, which meant Zoey and Aphrodite would be heading to Algebra soon and leaving the research for another day.

"Alright," Zoey sighed, changing the subject. "So we've learned that there's a school for good vampyres, we happen to be unlucky enough to get hunted by bad vampyres, and...uh..."

"And you know jack shit about math," Aphrodite added, tossing Zoey's notebook back at her. Zoey rolled her eyes.

"Thanks, I'm sure I didn't already know that."

Aphrodite picked up her things and stood up from her chair.

"Just reminding you," the blonde said in her usual bitchy tone of voice. "I'm leaving ahead of you. I don't want anyone to see us together on the way to class."

Zoey roughly shoved her notebook back into her backpack, finding herself once again irritated with the self-centered Barbie Girl.

_Okay, so she's starting to grow on me, but you know what else grows on people? Parasites._

"Aphrodite, we've been sitting here together for the past half-hour," Zoey said in exasperation.

"Yeah, but no one that matters comes to the library of their own free will. The only people who saw us here were the losers and nerds, and let's face it, no one takes them seriously."

Aphrodite tossed her hair back in a snobby rich girl fashion and turned on her heels, twitching out of sight as she left Zoey behind.

_...Oh yeah. Definitely a parasite._

* * *

"Ah, Zoey. Here you are."

Even with her head poking around inside her locker, Zoey immediately recognized the silky, confident voice of Neferet.

The school day was over, and as Zoey was stuffing textbooks into her locker she didn't even notice that her English teacher had come up behind her. Embarrassingly, she almost whacked her head against the locker door in her haste to whirl around and quickly greet Neferet.

"Neferet! Hi!" she said in a flustered rush, hoping her favorite teacher hadn't noticed her almost knocking herself out.

Neferet smiled kindly, and Zoey saw the sleek business bag slung over her shoulder; she must've been all packed up and ready to go despite the fact that the bell ending school just rang a few minutes ago.

"I just wanted to compliment you on the quality of your latest writing piece, Zoey. Truly a thought-provoking and unique piece of work," Neferet's radiant smile was practically blinding, and Zoey had to take a few seconds to think of something coherent to say in return.

"I did good on it? ?" she blurted incredulously, half surprised that she had excelled at something academic and half surprised that Neferet had personally sought her out to congratulate her. "Wow, when it comes to schoolwork I'm usually just average at best."

Neferet was watching the halls slowly clear as students went off to the parking lot to get to their cars or buses, but there was an amused twinkle in her eyes.

"Now now, Zoey. The key to succeeding in anything is first believing in yourself," she said, turning her emerald gaze back to the brunette.

"Well, that's just our little Zoey. Modest as ever."

With a start, Zoey noticed that Aphrodite had come up to stand next to her; arms crossed and fixing Neferet with a cold and calculating glare. Neferet was unfazed by the blonde's sudden appearance and harsh expression.

"You must be Miss LaFont, top student here at South Intermediate High," Neferet said, looking over Aphrodite with interest.

"I prefer not to be called by my last name, thank you very much," Aphrodite said in her Bitch Queen voice.

"Aphrodite! !" Zoey whispered harshly, shocked that the girl would turn her mean streak on a teacher.

"Zoey, you were supposed to meet me out by my car, remember?" Aphrodite said stiffly, not taking her eyes off Neferet as she spoke.

"Well I had to...wait, what? ?" Zoey was completely lost.

"I see you two have plans," said Neferet, looking curiously at the girls. "Well, I don't wish to keep you waiting. Zoey, excellent work again, I hope you keep it up. Aphrodite, wonderful to finally meet you in person."

With a slight bow, Neferet left, striding down the hall with all the command and power of some kind of warrior queen. Once she was out of sight, Zoey angrily turned on the blonde.

"What the hell was that about!?" she snapped.

"I told you to be careful around Neferet," Aphrodite answered sternly, narrowing her eyes at Zoey. "That means don't let yourself be alone with her."

"Look, Aphrodite," Zoey started, sighing in exasperation, "I know I said I'd be on the lookout around her, but I really don't think she- -"

"Did you see how quick she was to leave after I came over here? I probably just foiled her plan to axe murder you and stuff the pieces of your body into one of these lockers."

Zoey tensed up in frustration, getting ready to yell at Aphrodite some more. But she found herself unable to get the words out, and after a few seconds she let out a heavy sigh and started to laugh.

"...Then I guess this means we're tied in the life-saving category," Zoey said, starting to lighten up.

Aphrodite gave the same half-smile that had taken Zoey by surprise once before.

"Actually, I also warned you about the first vampyre attack when I really didn't have to, so technically I've saved your life twice."

"Hey, Zoey!"

Zoey heard Stevie Rae's voice and turned to see the entire gang coming up the hall towards her.

"Whoa whoa whoa! What is the hag doing here!?" Shaunee said as she and everyone else reached Zoey.

Vision Girl scowled.

"She was just leaving," Aphrodite muttered as she turned to walk off.

"Not so fast, blondie," Zoey caught Aphrodite by the arm and pulled her back over before she could get too far away. The Nerd Herd looked utterly flabbergasted by the act, but Zoey chose to ignore the shock on their faces and continued as if nothing had happened.

"So, what's up?" the brunette said casually.

Everyone was silent, like they refused to talk with Aphrodite standing right there. Stevie Rae looked cautious and guarded; the Twins looked like they were gauging how quickly they could jump the Hag from Hell and take her down before she said something to piss them off. After what seemed like an uncomfortably long time, sweet little Damien was the one to break the silence.

"We came to tell you that there's another extra credit movie night coming up in World History," he explained.

"Wednesday, next week," Stevie Rae added, mustering a smile despite Aphrodite's sinister presence.

"Cool, sounds like fun. I'll be there," Zoey said with a smile. Then she took a deep breath, anticipating the explosion that was going to happen after she said her next words. "Can Aphrodite come?"

Their jaws dropped and they all looked at her like she had just sprouted wings and run off to Kansas to join Oz's Circus of Flying Monkeys, but no one seemed more shocked than Aphrodite.

"What? ?" she asked incredulously, briefly looking more astounded than pissed. "What are you talking about? ?"

"Zoey has startled The Witch," Shaunee chuckled dryly.

Zoey cautiously glanced at Aphrodite, expecting her to start hissing and scratching her eyes out at any second.

"Well I just thought that- -"

"You thought wrong," Aphrodite snapped, back to her usual hellish self. "No way am I going to waste my time hanging out with you and the fucking Nerd Herd."

She stormed off, and Zoey quickly looked back and forth between her friends and the retreating blonde.

"Okay, look," she said hastily to Stevie Rae, "I know it seems like I've completely lost my ever-loving mind, but I swear I'm not insane. I'll explain this later, I promise!"

She waved a flustered goodbye and hurried off after Aphrodite.

"...She's lost her mind," Erin said with finality.

"Girl's lost her _damn_ mind," Shaunee agreed.

* * *

"What is your problem, Zoey!?"

The girls were halfway down the parking lot before Aphrodite finally stopped and let Zoey catch up to her.

"I know, I know," Zoey panted, out of breath from trying to keep up with Vision Girl. "Just hear me out before you bite my head off."

"I'm listening," Aphrodite growled dangerously. For Zoey's sake she better have had a damn good reason for even _thinking_ of asking Aphrodite to hang out with her and her friends.

"Okay, it's like this," Zoey started, raising her hands in defense in case Aphrodite turned violent. "I can't keep lying to my friends about where I am whenever you and I are together. And when I'm with them I can't keep worrying about whether you're off by yourself somewhere getting kidnapped by vampyres."

"So you're trying to force us together just so you can keep me on your little leash? I don't need you looking after me, Zoey!" Aphrodite snapped.

Part of Zoey wanted to just yell at Aphrodite until something got through that thick skull of hers, but another part of her forced her to keep calm and explain things rationally.

"My friends and I are a team, and like it or not, the fact that you and I are on the vampyres' D-list means that the two of us have to work together, so you all are just gonna have to learn to stop fighting each other. You know they only hold a grudge against you because of the way you treat them," Zoey said. "If you just started being a little nicer to them- -"

"I don't do nice," Aphrodite interrupted, glaring at Power Freak.

"You're nice to me. Well, sometimes. You're no fairy princess, but it's definitely an improvement over the day we first met. I mean, if someone came up to me a month ago and said that you and I would end up friends, I probably would've smacked them for being so delusional."

Seemingly bored of the conversation, Aphrodite turned and started to walk off to her car. But Zoey was not deterred, and she followed after her.

"We aren't friends, Zoey," Aphrodite said coldly over her shoulder.

The parking lot was emptying, and there were very few cars or students left around them.

"I'm starting to think we might be. I mean, you're a cranky, irritable, spoiled friend, but a friend nonetheless," Zoey said.

Aphrodite was doing a wonderful job of ignoring her, and Zoey sighed in exasperation.

"How come I haven't seen you with any of _your _friends?" the brunette asked, pulling her risky trump card. As she expected, Aphrodite stopped in her tracks, and slowly turned to face her.

"It's the visions, isn't it?" Zoey continued, feeling like she was treading on thin ice with this conversation. "You didn't always have them, did you? And when you first started getting them, everyone thought you must've been crazy or something, right?"

Aphrodite was staring down at the ground, expressionless, like she was lost in her thoughts and a million miles away.

"...They never got the chance to find out," the blonde said quietly. She looked up at Zoey, who was shocked to see that Aphrodite almost looked sad.

"You think I'd let them hang around long enough to figure out I'm a freak?" she explained. "I cut all of my friends out of my life before they even had a clue there was something wrong with me."

She sneered, and Zoey could tell that Aphrodite was trying (yet failing) to use the haughty expression to mask the pain in her eyes.

"It wasn't that hard, really," the blonde said flippantly. "It's not like anyone tried to get back in after I put the walls up. I make it a point to be the best at anything I do, even if it's being a freak."

Zoey was startled to find herself suddenly relating to Aphrodite; she had gone through the same thing when her power over the elements started to develop back in Oklahoma City. With Kayla and Heath wanting to see more and more of her before she moved, it hurt more than anything to keep turning them down and avoiding them out of fear of her powers being discovered.

_So all the times I've seen her by herself this year, she really has been alone..._

"You're not a freak, Aphrodite. And there's nothing wrong with you either," Zoey said gently. "Remember me? The girl who can make popcorn with her bare hands?"

She managed to make Aphrodite smile a little.

"There's weird crap in this world. Vampyres, visions, mystical powers; hell, maybe during the next full moon Shaunee will turn into a werewolf and go hunting for fashionable shoes," Zoey tried to lighten the mood and get her point across at the same time. "All I'm saying is that you don't have to worry about hiding who you are around me. I may not be rich, or get cars for my birthday, or have superstar good looks and charm like the popular crowd you're used to, but I'm here if you need me. So...that's pretty much all I needed to tell you. And...just think about coming to movie night with us, I promise we're much more fun than we look. Seeing as the last movie night was the first vampyre attack, I don't want history repeating itself on you unless I'm around to play vampyre slayer again."

After the two of them stood there for a while exchanging a series of awkward stares, Zoey finally nodded a goodbye and went off in search of her Bug.

"Zoey?" Aphrodite spoke up before the brunette got too far away.

"Yeah?" Zoey turned around hopefully, thinking that maybe something she said had finally gotten through the girl's icy exterior.

There was conflict in Aphrodite's eyes, like she was in the middle of some kind of battle against herself. Zoey waited for a response, but eventually Aphrodite just scowled at her in arrogant disdain and turned to walk away.

"Nothing."


	7. Pressure

"I know I've asked this a hundred times in just the past few days," Shaunee was saying as she swirled her iced coffee around with the straw, "but tell me again why you're joining the Dark Side?"

Pencil in hand, Zoey looked up from the textbook sitting open on her lap. There were very few people in the library that Wednesday morning, and Zoey had been taking the chance to get some quality studying done (before the Twins showed up and shot that chance to hell).

"I told you, I'm not 'joining the Dark Side'," she said.

"Judging by the color of Aphrodite's soul, I'd say anything having to do with her is pretty dark indeed," Erin said matter-of-factly, sitting next to Shaunee on their usual sofa.

"She's really not all that bad," Zoey tried to explain. "She's like a cat, once she gets used to you she won't be trying to claw your eyes out all the time."

There was a fiendish glint in the Twins' eyes.

"I'd say she's more like a dog, right Twin?" Shaunee said smugly.

"A female dog," Erin agreed with an evil smile.

Zoey just sighed. Thankfully, Stevie Rae and Damien chose that moment to return from the little coffee place at the back of the library.

"Stevie Rae is with me on this, right?" Zoey anxiously asked the curly-haired blonde.

Stevie Rae, guessing what they were talking about in her absence, sheepishly sat down under the incredulous stares of the Twins.

"Um, well, y'all know I'm the last person that would ever jump on the Aphrodite train. As far as I'm concerned she's just the Hag from Hell that we've always known and hated. I trust Zoey and everything, and she says that if we start tryin' to get along then maybe Aphrodite won't be so mean and nasty all the time," Stevie Rae explained. Then she frowned, turning to Zoey.

"I know that you think you're doing the right thing, and playin' peacemaker is great and all...but you haven't known Aphrodite as long as we have. She's still a bitch, and I don't think anything's gonna change that."

"I concur," Damien said, taking a bite out of the cookie he had bought. "Her hatred for us is totally unwarranted but completely real. In her eyes, she and her friends rule this school and anyone that isn't them is trash. You may be looking for the good that just isn't there."

Zoey sighed and stared down at the textbook in her lap.

_Either way, Aphrodite and I are the only ones that know about the vampyres who are hunting us. And since I'm the one with the actual useful power, like it or not, it's my responsibility to make sure nothing kills Aphrodite...well, besides the Twins. But I can't do that if everyone is constantly butting heads with each other!_

"Besides," Shaunee added, interrupting Zoey's thoughts. "Even if hell froze over and the witch was actually okay with hanging out with the 'Nerd Herd', there's no way she'd let her prissy, high-society hag friends see her lower her standards."

Zoey didn't say anything about how Aphrodite had isolated herself from every friend she'd ever known, but that was the other part of the reason Zoey wanted to bring her into the gang. Even a hateful, vindictive person like Aphrodite shouldn't be completely alone.

_I'm not going to try to convince them. My friends have every right to hate her. But until we get this vampyre mess sorted out, they just have to tolerate her, not like her._

"I can't believe you invited her to come to the movie night with us tonight," Erin said, shaking her head.

"Just trying to get the ball rolling," Zoey grumbled, avoiding everyone's eyes and keeping her gaze trained avidly on her book.

"I'm just glad the movie isn't that long this time," Stevie Rae said, attempting to change the subject. "That means I'll get home in time for my mama's barbecue!"

The little country girl looked as happy as a clam as she thought about the prospect of food waiting for her later in the day.

"Your mom's making her homemade barbecue? I am so jealous," Shaunee said. "You'd never catch my 'rentals taking the time to make decent food."

Stevie Rae's eyes lit up and she broke into a wide smile.

"Y'all can come over, if you want! You know my mama would more than love to see you guys again," she was clearly excited about the idea of dinner with her friends.

"Stevie Rae, anyplace your mama's cooking goes, I will follow," Erin said with finality. "Right, Twin?"

"Right as usual Twin. Count us in, Stevie Rae."

"Me too," Damien said, looking hungry already despite the rather large cookie he still held in his hand.

Stevie Rae turned to look at Zoey so fast that her golden curls were temporarily lost in a blur.

"You'll come too, right Z? I've been telling my mama and daddy so much about you, they can't wait to meet you in person."

Zoey was flattered that she was tell-the-parents material. Quite frankly, because of life in her own home, with her brainwashed mom and the Step-Loser disapproving of her 24/7, she felt that she was in desperate need of an adult who actually wanted her around.

_It would be a nice change of pace,_ she bitterly thought.

Plus, she once again noticed that she'd been called Z, this time by Stevie Rae (which marked the first time one of her friends had used a nickname). Zoey never let it show, but she loved it. Similar to how her grandmother called her Zoeybird, being called something other than Zoey made her feel like she belonged, like she was a part of people who actually valued having her around. It felt nice.

She looked up at Stevie Rae and gave her a warm, thankful smile.

"I wouldn't miss it."

* * *

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in," Shaunee muttered.

First period had just ended, and as the Nerd Herd filed out of World History, an unwelcome sight was waiting for them in the hall.

"Hey, Aphrodite," Zoey greeted awkwardly, going up to the waiting blonde despite the apprehensive looks the rest of the gang were giving her.

Aside from Algebra, Zoey hadn't seen as much of Aphrodite for the past week as she normally (and unwillingly) did. It was like the girl had finally decided that she'd had enough of Zoey and her friends and was too high and mighty to even bother harassing them anymore. But Zoey was remaining cautiously optimistic that Aphrodite hadn't _completely _reverted back to her irritating bitchy ways.

"Everything alright?" Zoey said quietly, subtly asking if Aphrodite had had a vision because her sudden appearance was a little unusual.

Vision Girl merely rolled her eyes in annoyance, which, Zoey guessed, meant that their lives weren't in dire peril right that second.

"What brings the queen to visit us lowly peasants?" Erin mocked, moving to stand next to Zoey and stare down the hag.

Zoey gave Erin a warning glance that told her to play nice, and surprisingly, Stevie Rae backed her up.

"Don't be an instigator, Erin," she said quietly.

"Ooh, big word, Stevie Rae. Didn't know you knew anything over two syllables," Aphrodite sneered with an evil smile.

Zoey was about to reprimand the hell out of her, but Stevie Rae was faster.

"I dunno, I guess that explains why I can say the words 'slutty hag bitch' just FINE!" Stevie Rae lunged at Aphrodite like she was going to throttle her, but Damien managed to hold her back.

"Whoa there honey, she's not worth it," he said, being the voice of reason as usual.

"Speak for your damn self!" Shaunee suddenly strode forward, fist raised like she was going on the offensive, but this time it was Zoey that played the voice of reason.

"Shaunee, leave her alone! You'll just get in trouble!"

"Nuh uh Zoey, Stevie Rae was trying to be halfway decent around Aphrodite and all she does is act like a bitch! She gets away with too much shit just because she thinks she rules this school and her teacher pals are around every corner, but this time I'm knocking her on her royal ass!"

"Perhaps, Shaunee, you might take a moment to slow down and think before simply reacting," Neferet's steady voice suddenly sounded from behind them, and as one collective group everyone whirled around to see the English teacher coolly walking over to them.

Aphrodite immediately switched her full attention from Shaunee to Neferet, narrowing her eyes dangerously as she did so.

"Passing period is the time meant for getting to class, not starting fights," Neferet's voice was calm but firm, like a mother scolding her rowdy children who knew they had better fall into line fast before she got mad.

Shaunee- -stunned into silence by Neferet's sudden appearance and not wanting to make a scene in front of her favorite teacher- -simply stormed off down the hall without another word, her Twin following closely behind her. Wearing embarrassed expressions at being caught in the middle of a throwdown with the Hag from Hell, Stevie Rae and Damien silently shuffled off to their classes as well. Neferet turned her mossy green gaze on the Power Duo.

"Zoey, Aphrodite, you know better. Don't let me catch you in the middle of something like this again," although not angry, the tone of her voice made Zoey feel greatly ashamed.

"Sorry, Neferet," she mumbled, hanging her head. Aphrodite stayed silent, not taking her eyes off of Neferet until the woman walked away to the end of the hallway and turned a corner.

"You know messing with Stevie Rae wasn't at all necessary," Zoey said flatly, turning her head slightly to the side to scowl at Aphrodite.

Aphrodite just shrugged, looking very bored.

"The Beverly Hillbilly just makes it too easy. I'm a bitch, it's what I do," she said airily.

"You don't always have to act that way!"

"Nice sentiment Redbird, but it's not an act."

Zoey felt her frustration growing like a flame, and she tensely balled up her fists.

"...Maybe it's not such a good idea for you to come with us tonight," she said quietly.

"I wasn't planning on hanging around with you people in the first place," the blonde said snidely, pompously flipping back her hair.

"I'm just trying to give you a chance, Aphrodite!" Zoey snapped, fully turning her anger on the vindictive Vision Girl.

"A chance to what? Become a loser like you? No thanks."

With those words, Zoey suddenly found herself hating Aphrodite, hating her more in that moment than she ever had before. She had deluded herself into feeling sorry for the girl, whose life had been forcefully taken over by painful, unwanted, confusing visions; who had her world turned upside down when she found herself in the middle of some dark, mysterious vampyre plot with no one around to confide in.

But Aphrodite was not someone to be pitied. She was a cold-hearted, vile, spiteful person. She had been that way long before she got her visions, and if she ever lost her powers she would probably be that way for long after.

"I'm starting to think I was wrong about you, Aphrodite," Zoey said with so much ice in her voice that it startled even her.

Aphrodite just smiled. The sweet, innocent, and completely false smile she had given Zoey on the day they first met.

"What took you so long?"

With that, she left, leaving Zoey alone in the hall and feeling like an idiot for ever thinking Aphrodite could be changed.

* * *

"Come ON, Stevie Rae!" Shaunee stomped her foot impatiently as Stevie Rae took her time gathering up her things. "Your mom has food on the table!"

"Excuse me Shaunee, but my mama is MY mama. Y'all don't get to eat without me, so just keep your haute couture pants on."

Their second extra credit movie night had wrapped up, and once again the infamous Nerd Herd were the last ones to leave the room. Zoey, Damien, and Erin stood by the door, watching the bickering with amusement.

"So is her mom's cooking really that good?" Zoey asked Erin, thinking that anything would top her own mother's cooking.

"Are you kidding? Those country bumpkins _really_ know their food," Erin answered.

"Plus, her mom is the sweetest little thing," Damien added. "She's like a real mom, you know? The kind of mom everyone should have."

"Who doesn't judge you for being gay," Erin said with a nod at Damien.

_Or for not fitting into a perfect little happy family portrait..._

Zoey thought of her own mom, who was probably parked on the couch reading the Bible like it was 50 Shades of Grey, or out with John nailing crucifixes to the houses of goth teenagers.

"Okay, okay, I'm ready," Stevie Rae said, ignoring the look of contempt Shaunee was giving her and joining the others at the door.

Mr. Harrond had left the room but would be back later to lock up, so the gang stepped out into the hall and made their way to the exit doors that sat close to the World History room. It was almost 6 p.m. and still nice and bright outside, plus Zoey was with her friends this time, so she didn't think she would be as scared of being in an empty, deserted school as she was during the last movie night.

But when a door suddenly opened down the hall behind them, Zoey still jumped and let out an embarrassingly girly squeal.

Ignoring Zoey's mini-heart attack, the rest of the Nerd Herd calmly turned to see Aphrodite coming out of an empty classroom and locking the door behind her like she owned the place.

"Incoming shrapnel," Erin mocked with a snort.

"What the hell is SHE doing here this late? And what, did the teachers just give her a key to every room in this place? As if she doesn't already think the school is hers," Shaunee looked disgusted.

"Quick, run like hell," Zoey joked, comically making a break for the doors. But Aphrodite had already spotted them, and the rest of the group was determined to stand their ground this time.

"I would've thought you nerds would still be watching your Star Wars marathon," Aphrodite said flatly as she reached them.

Zoey, who was actually okay with Star Wars, was trying to figure out if she should be insulted or not. But before any of them could even think about starting a large-scale cat fight with the Hag from Hell, Neferet suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. They were almost too surprised by her sudden arrival to notice how she was dressed way too nicely for school; wearing a long black dress that shimmered like it was woven out of starlight and hugged her body perfectly as if it were painted on.

"Hi, Neferet," the Twins said together, stunned by her ridiculously perfect looks and wanting to get back into their teacher's good graces after their little tussle with the Bitch Queen earlier that day.

"Hello girls," Neferet greeted them with a smile and an oddly amused twinkle in her eyes. Then she turned to Zoey.

"I run into you all so often, it seems that you and your friends can't seem to get enough of school."

As usual, Aphrodite puffed up like a pissed-off cat at Neferet's arrival.

"I'm not her friend," she was quick to say, once again not making any attempt to be civil in the woman's almost royal presence.

As Zoey watched, the amused shine in Neferet's eyes slowly turned into a fiendish, wicked glint. The subtle change was enough to startle Zoey into taking a scared step backwards, as the English teacher turned into something sinister right before her.

"No? I see..." Neferet said to Aphrodite, smiling a little too warmly. "Then I suppose you wouldn't mind if I did _this_."

It happened in the blink of an eye, but to everyone else it seemed like they were watching it in slow motion.

With impossible speed, Neferet lunged at Zoey, her hand shooting out like a snake and closing forcefully around the girl's throat.

"Zoey! !" Aphrodite yelled, startled.

Damien, Stevie Rae, and the Twins were shocked silent, temporarily frozen at the suddenness of what was happening. While they stood there gaping in horror, Aphrodite was the first to react.

"Let go of her, you bitch!" she growled, bravely charging at Neferet.

But the vampyres were quicker. Two of them appeared, each one grabbing Aphrodite by the arm and holding her back with animalistic snarls. Zoey's hands flew to Neferet's wrist, trying weakly to free herself from the woman's hold as she started making choked gasps.

"Nef...er..." Zoey struggled to speak.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Aphrodite fruitlessly yelled, trying fiercely to wrench herself loose from the vampyres' vice-like grip. "Zoey, summon the elements!"

But Zoey's mind was racing on panic mode; she couldn't muster the concentration to summon anything. And then, it was almost as if Aphrodite could feel what Zoey was feeling. A horrible, searing hot pressure started to build in her head, the same pressure Zoey felt as her oxygen was completely cut off. With inhuman strength, Neferet lifted Zoey off of the ground, and the brunette's feet kicked out wildly as she strangled to death.

"Neferet, please!" the desperation in Aphrodite's voice was what finally caught Neferet's attention. She turned her head to give the girl a wicked grin.

"There. See what happens when you simply say please?"

She released her grip, and Zoey fell in a crumpled heap on the ground, coughing, gagging, and gulping down air.

Aphrodite felt a wave of relief wash over her, but it abruptly ended when Neferet crouched down next to Zoey and placed her hands around the girl's head in such a way that Aphrodite knew exactly what was coming.

"No...don't! !" she cried, resuming her fight against the vampyres that were holding her back.

But it was no use. Even though the blonde knew what was going to happen, it didn't stop her from violently flinching when she heard the sickening snap come from Zoey's neck and watched her fall lifelessly onto the floor.

Aphrodite froze. The sounds of the vampyres quietly hissing beside her were the only noises in the hall.

"...Zoey?"

The scene in front of Aphrodite's eyes began to blur as tears started to come; running down her face and practically obscuring her view of the girl's still, unmoving form.

"ZOEY! !"

"Aphrodite! Aphrodite, I'm right here!"

Aphrodite felt the tight grip the vampyres kept on her disappear, replaced by someone else's tight grip on her shoulders. When she blinked and furiously wiped her eyes, everything was gone. She was slumped on the floor, leaning back against the wall. Neferet and the vamps were nowhere to be seen. The Nerd Herd stood off to the back, watching her with bewildered expressions. Zoey was kneeling in front of her, peering into her face with concern and holding her firmly back by the shoulders.

"Zoey...you're okay!" Shocking everyone, Aphrodite threw her arms around Zoey and hugged her.

Although utterly surprised by the act, Zoey reflexively hugged her back, trying to calm her down.

"I'm fine, it was just a vision. I was right here the whole time," Zoey said, forcing herself to sound composed despite how freaked out she was over the obvious intensity of Aphrodite's vision.

Aphrodite let go of Zoey and leaned back against the wall, closing her bloodshot eyes in exhaustion.

"What a time for my visions to suddenly become clear again," she muttered weakly.

"Tell me what you saw."

Aphrodite slowly opened her eyes, and Zoey saw the fear in them.

"Neferet was here. She...she killed you."

"...What? ?" Zoey gasped. She had been pretty nonchalant about Aphrodite's past visions, but hearing her own death foretold was a different story entirely.

"God, I've got such a fucking headache..." The blonde groaned and buried her face in her hands, reliving the nightmarish scene in her head.

"Um...sorry, but what in the name of The Alamo is goin' on? ?" Stevie Rae's confused Okie twang snapped the Power Duo out of their little bubble of doom.

The gang was looking at Zoey and Aphrodite like they had just announced their plans to take over the universe with a horde of rabid bunnies.

"...We have to tell them," Zoey said to Aphrodite with a sigh. Aphrodite lifted her head and, after a slight hesitation, slowly nodded in agreement.

Just like the last time, Zoey helped Vision Girl to her feet, supporting her in her weakened state so she didn't ungracefully fall on her non-existent ass.

"C'mon guys, let's go outside. I'll explain everything," the brunette said, leading Aphrodite to the exit doors with the Nerd Herd following closely behind.

The sun was still out and the warm, fresh air somehow made Aphrodite relax a little more. Zoey guided her over to the curb of the sidewalk and sat her down, knowing she would still have trouble standing on her own. After quickly looking her over and deciding there was a chance that the girl would topple sideways, Zoey sat down next to her to act as a buffer; the last thing she needed right now was to have Aphrodite tumble over and start complaining about dirt in her hair.

Zoey's friends stood around her, too anxious to sit. Stevie Rae, Damien, and the Twins exchanged nervous looks, like they were in the middle of a silent debate over who should say something first. Apparently, Damien won the vote, and he timidly spoke up.

"Um, Zoey? What exactly just happened back there?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, one second we're getting harassed as usual..." Erin said.

"...And the next thing you know, Aphrodite's gone all Carrie on us," Shaunee finished for her Twin.

Aphrodite, who was indeed so physically drained that she ended up drifting sideways and leaning on Zoey, managed a weak attempt at a sarcastic laugh.

"Carrie's got nothing on me..."

Zoey took a deep breath, preparing to explain everything.

"Okay, this is gonna sound completely insane, but I promise it's all true. The thing is, Aphrodite has...well...she has visions."

As expected, each of the gang's faces was a mask of bewilderment.

"...Visions?" Damien repeated. "As in things that haven't happened yet?"

Zoey nodded.

"Hmph, so Little Miss Queen-of-the-Universe isn't as perfect as she'd have us believe," Shaunee said wickedly.

"Yeah? Well Zoey controls the elements," Aphrodite said with a mocking smirk. Even though she'd just had her worst vision yet, she still found the strength to keep up with the Twins.

"Thanks Aphrodite, steal my thunder why don't you!" Zoey groaned.

"Whatever. You can probably make your own thunder."

"The elements? ?" Erin questioned.

"Oh yeah, Zo paints with all the colors of the wind," Aphrodite teased again.

"Would you shut up? ?" the brunette comically hissed.

Shaunee rolled her eyes.

"Clearly she's starting to feel better."

"_Anyway_," Zoey continued, shooting a dirty look at Aphrodite. "Because the two of us have special powers, we've started being hunted by vampyres who want to use our abilities for some reason, and that reason probably isn't anything good."

"Vampyres? ?" The Twins gasped together.

"Vampyres are real? Like with bloodsucking and turning into bats?" Damien was shocked.

"Well, not quite," Zoey continued to explain. "Actually, it's a little confusing. It turns out that the vamps that are after us are like the evil, twisted version of regular vampyres. Regular vamps don't seem to be all that bad."

"Tell them about the House of Night," Aphrodite quietly mumbled. Apparently all the sarcastic remarks had tired her out again.

"Yeah, there are these schools all around the world called Houses of Night, schools specifically for vampyres. But the good kind, not the Hollywood horror kind. There's one in Tulsa, and my grandma taught me about vamps when I was little, but I really don't remember much..."

"And by the way, Neferet is the leader of the Hollywood horror vamps, so just forget about how 'awesome' she is and don't trust anything she says or does," Vision Girl added.

The gang took a moment to let it all sink in. A very long, quiet moment that seemed to last forever.

"...Neferet?" Erin said quietly, looking sadly at her Twin.

"That can't be..." Shaunee whispered, her voice even lower than Erin's.

Damien looked thoughtful, musing in his typical scholarly fashion.

"Let's not jump to conclusions. Perhaps Aphrodite's visions aren't entirely accurate, or they just show _possible_ outcomes of the future instead of _definite _outcomes, or- -"

"You were really worried about Zoey, weren't you?" Stevie Rae asked Aphrodite. The country girl had been studying her intently.

"What?" Aphrodite sat up straight and looked up at Stevie Rae.

"You had a vision about Zoey. You thought it was real, and you were genuinely worried she was hurt."

Aphrodite cast her gaze down at the ground beneath her feet. She almost looked embarrassed.

"The girl's a pain in my ass, but that doesn't mean I want her dead," she said petulantly.

Zoey's eyebrows lifted in surprise.

_Could've fooled me..._

"Well...I guess if she's capable of concern for someone other than herself then she's not a _complete_ hag," Shaunee said.

Stevie Rae was still looking curiously at Aphrodite.

"Even though all this sounds like something out of a B-Grade movie, if you're in trouble, Zoey, we want to help," Damien said. "Maybe we should go to this House of Night, find out what's up with this good versus evil vampyre situation."

"Yeah, we definitely don't want you dying, Z," Erin said.

"You guys are taking all of this rather well," Zoey noted, half impressed and half concerned.

"What can we say, we're tough like that," Erin raised her fists and pretended to box.

Zoey smiled, incredibly thankful to have amazing friends that she could count on for anything, but she shook her head at Damien.

"You guys are awesome, but all of this could get way dangerous. There's no way I can get you involved."

"Let them help," Aphrodite said, shocking everyone for what was quite possibly the hundredth time that evening. "Strength in numbers."

Then the blonde looked up at the sky, and a quick flash of fear shone in her eyes.

"Zoey, it's getting dark..." she whispered, nervously glancing around and expecting a red vampyre to slink out of the growing shadows at any moment.

Zoey nodded in understanding and rose to her feet, helping Aphrodite up as the sky above them started painting itself in deep reds and sunset oranges.

"Look, we'll figure something out, we've got time," Zoey said. Aphrodite was about to remind the brunette that her imminent death at Neferet's hands suggested that they didn't have time, but thought better of it. "For now, you guys go on ahead to Stevie Rae's, I'll take Aphrodite home."

"Are you sure you two will be alright?" Stevie Rae asked. "I mean, Aphrodite's vision won't come true anytime soon, will it?"

Zoey was not at all sure if they would be alright, but she put on a smile and forced a nod nonetheless.

"We've been okay so far, I think we're set for one more night," she said. Then she gave a genuine smile. "It's good to know you guys can handle anything I throw at you."

Shaunee shrugged, grinning mischievously.

"We can't all be superheroes like the Blonde-Brunette Duet. This is our way of saving the day," she said.

"Blonde-Brunette Duet...I like it, Twin."

"Thank you, Twin."

When Zoey thought about telling her friends that she was the Power Freak and Aphrodite was Vision Girl, this scenario was the last one she imagined. But now that she knew everyone was in the loop, everything seemed easier to handle. Even hearing Aphrodite foresee Neferet killing her seemed to have lost some of its scariness.

Eventually, they managed to say their goodbyes and reassurances that everything would be fine, then Zoey and Aphrodite (who was walking on her own now) made their way down the parking lot alone.

"Are you going to make me ride in the Insect-Mobile?"

"I'm making you ride in the Bug, yes."

The girls were silent until they reached the little car, where Zoey paused for a moment before she unlocked the doors.

"That vision really upset you, didn't it?" the brunette asked gently, thinking of Stevie Rae's earlier comment. Aphrodite scowled at her.

"You _died_, Zoey. I watched Neferet kill you with her bare hands. I _felt_ Neferet kill you with her bare hands."

"I know, I know, it's just that...I really didn't think I mattered that much to you."

"...What can I say, you're starting to grow on me."


	8. Side Effects

"There. I trust everything is to your liking now, your majesty?" Zoey said sarcastically, shooting Aphrodite the dirtiest glare she could manage.

After Zoey had brought Aphrodite home, the blonde had quickly set her to work fetching drinks, changing channels, and fluffing pillows while the Queen Mean Girl made herself comfortable on the ridiculously oversized living room sofa.

"Well, you could turn on something that isn't Tom and Jerry," Aphrodite said snidely, frowning at the t.v. "Not everyone is a five year old like you."

Zoey suppressed the urge to growl, stormed over to the coffee table, snatched up the remote, and blindly pushed the button until the t.v. screen switched to something that wasn't a cartoon.

"I thought you said the after-effects of your visions don't last long, so why are you still pulling the damsel in distress routine and having me do all the butler work?" Zoey grumbled as she tossed the remote onto the sofa so Her Royal Highness could change her own channels.

"This was one hell of a vision. The same rules don't apply," Aphrodite broke her usual high-society demeanor by propping her feet up on the table in front of her.

Zoey rolled her eyes.

"Convenient," she muttered under her breath. "Alright, I'm out of here. I put my number in your phone in case you need me, but please, feel free to _not_ need me."

Zoey was surprised at the harshness in her own voice, but despite everything that had happened she was still a little pissed at Aphrodite for the attitude she had been showing before all the vision chaos ensued.

"I'll come by tomorrow morning to pick you up for school, since your car is still in the parking lot. Although in all honesty, I'm surprised you only have _one_ car. I mean, I would've figured you'd have a car for school days, a car for the weekend, a car for that time of the month, a car for Arbor Day..."

She babbled to herself all the way to the front door, where Aphrodite's voice stopped her short just as Zoey's hand reached for the doorknob.

"...You aren't staying?"

Zoey almost felt like she'd been smacked upside the head.

_Is she insane!?_

The brunette whirled on her feet and marched through the entryway and back into the living room to angrily list all the reasons why no, she in fact would _not_ be staying, but the words died in her throat.

Aphrodite was looking up at her with wide, innocent eyes, and the almost pained expression on her face seemed to transform her from a snarky teenage hag to a lost little child who did not want to be left alone.

"...You want me to stay?" Zoey asked, finding herself grudgingly unable to ignore Aphrodite's sad puppy face.

Aphrodite merely nodded once, and Zoey hesitated, trying to figure out what to do. Part of her wanted to walk out the door and teach Aphrodite a lesson; that she couldn't act like a spoiled brat and treat everyone like dirt, then expect them to go around bending over backwards for her. But another part of Zoey understood that in spite of her serious character flaws, Aphrodite was still a girl who had just seen a vision of death and would be left alone to think about it over and over again in a big empty house if Zoey decided to leave now.

With a heavy sigh, Zoey shuffled over to the sofa and wearily dropped down next to Aphrodite.

"Sure, I can stay..." she muttered.

Aphrodite's scared little kid expression didn't change, but her eyes flickered with the smallest trace of gratitude.

The two girls blankly stared at the flat screen t.v. in front of them, not really paying attention to whatever movie Zoey had managed to turn on but just needing a place to avert their eyes to. The minutes ticked by in awkward silence, until Zoey decided that she'd had enough of the quiet and bravely attempted to make conversation.

"The sad truth is that I'm more comfortable here than I am in my own home...but then again, I'd probably be more comfortable going through Chinese water torture than being in my own home."

Aphrodite turned her head ever so slightly to glance at Zoey out of the corner of her eye.

"Rough life?"

Zoey laughed dryly, although she was pleasantly surprised to see that Aphrodite was interested in hearing something that wasn't about herself.

"Between the psycho stepdad who resents the fact that I exist, to the mother who's been brainwashed into resenting the fact that I exist, my life could definitely be better," the brunette explained.

Then a thought occurred to her. This was the third time Zoey had stayed over at Aphrodite's place, and not once had she seen a sign or a trace of Vision Girl's parents. In fact, the whole house gave the impression of something that was hardly lived in.

"...What about you?" Zoey cautiously brought up the topic.

"Me?" Aphrodite frowned.

"Your 'rentals. Are we talking Brady Bunch or Addams Family?"

Aphrodite gave a sarcastic little huff.

"Well, there's the Mayor of Tulsa dad who's just _so_ concerned with appearances and being Public Icon #1, accompanied by the equally appearance-crazed mother who spends all her time climbing to the top of the social ladder and surrounding herself with the most wealthy and powerful people she can find," Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Between all the image building, high-class partying, and vacations to tropical islands no one's even heard of before, they're rarely at home. At any rate, I'm so much of a big disappointment to them that they'd rather _not _come home with me around."

Zoey's eyes widened.

"You? A disappointment? What, is it the fact that you're gorgeous or the fact that you're one of the best students in school that's throwing them off?" Zoey asked in astonishment.

"Apparently my best isn't good enough for them," Aphrodite muttered offhandedly. Zoey shook her head.

"Hooray for the sucky parents of the Blonde-Brunette Duet," she said sarcastically.

Aphrodite grimaced.

"Are your friends going to keep coming up with more dorky nicknames for us?"

Zoey laughed.

"I think Blonde-Brunette Duet is pretty clever. Plus, it's payback for all the 'Nerd Herd' abuse they've had to put up with from you."

The two settled into silence for a while again, watching the images on the t.v. flicker and change until Aphrodite glanced at Zoey out of the corner of her eye and gave an evil smirk.

"You think I'm gorgeous?"

Zoey shrugged nonchalantly, but cast her gaze off to the side as if she were embarrassed.

"I may not like you very much, but that doesn't mean I'm blind," she said casually. "Besides, you go around telling us how perfect you think you are all the time, it's not like we can just ignore you."

Zoey tried to play it cool, but she couldn't help but notice that Aphrodite suddenly looked incredibly smug beside her.

* * *

The alarm clock on the nightstand read 2:13 a.m. Aphrodite shot bolt upright in her bed covered in a cold sweat, breathing heavily as her heart pounded in her chest. The image of Neferet and her vampyre army was burned in her mind, and Aphrodite squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in her hands, willing the scene to disappear.

She had been tossing and turning all night, with the horrors of her vision replaying over and over again in her nightmares.

She couldn't sit still anymore. Kicking off the covers and feeling the rush of nighttime air cool her off, Aphrodite got out of bed and opened her door, quietly stepping out into the hall. Automatically, her feet started walking her to Zoey's room (she surprised herself by thinking of it as "Zoey's room" instead of "One of the numerous guest rooms in this house that Zoey just happens to be in") and when she reached the end of the hall she found the door to the room left ajar, with a pool of soft lamp light spilling out onto the floor.

Aphrodite slowly opened the door and peered inside the room, finding Zoey sitting up in bed with her phone in front of her face and the little beeping noises of a game coming from the device. The brunette's eyes immediately saw her and narrowed in concern.

"Hey, what's up?" Zoey asked.

It was at that moment that Aphrodite realized she probably looked as bad as she felt, and she self-consciously reached a hand up to her hair in an attempt to smooth down the bedhead that she didn't even have.

"Couldn't sleep," Aphrodite muttered after realizing that her hair was still perfect as usual.

"Me neither," Zoey said, waving around her phone for emphasis. "I think it's safe to say we've had a rough day...a lot of rough days, actually," she nodded at the empty side of the bed. "Wanna sit down? I mean, of course you can sit down, it's your house and everything, I was just- -"

Aphrodite rolled her eyes at Power Freak's extreme dorkiness, but came into the room and sat next to her on the bed anyway.

"So what are we going to do about Neferet and the vampyres?" Vision Girl asked straightforwardly, catching Zoey off guard. She hadn't expected the blonde to be all-business this early in the morning.

"Um...well, I'm not really sure. Maybe the House of Night is our best bet. If the vamps there knew what Neferet was up to, they might have a way to stop her," Zoey quickly thought on her feet.

"Great. So instead of waiting around _here_ to get eaten we'll go to _Tulsa_ to get eaten," Aphrodite chided.

"We're not going to get eaten. House of Night equals good vampyres, remember? Sure, they drink blood, but not all the time. And they don't go around hunting humans like animals. I at least remember that much from what my grandmother taught me."

Aphrodite crossed her arms and glared at the brunette.

"The more time we waste," Vision Girl said sternly, "the more time Neferet has to..."

She drifted off, staring expressionlessly down at the covers. Zoey could tell what she was about to say.

"Neferet's not going to kill me," Zoey said, sounding much more confident than she actually felt. "You told me once that your visions always come true, but ever since they started becoming foggy they _haven't_ been coming true. Your first vision? You saw one vampyre attacking me, but when we were at the school there were two vamps, and neither of them ever laid a hand on me."

Aphrodite quickly looked up at Zoey with fear in her eyes again.

"But this vision was clear. As clear as they used to be. I knew where we were, what everyone was doing, I even saw what Neferet was wearing! Zoey, I'm telling you- -"

"If there's one thing I've learned from watching all my geeky movies," Zoey interrupted, smiling smugly, "it's that the future isn't set in stone. It always shifts and changes, and nothing is certain. And sometimes, I just get feelings about things, so you're gonna have to trust me when I say that I'm sure Neferet isn't going to hurt me."

Aphrodite shook her head, totally unconvinced.

"You're too high and mighty for your own good, Z. Just because you've got the powers it doesn't mean you're Superman."

"I'm not saying I am! I'm just saying that..."

Zoey was starting to grow more and more frustrated with Aphrodite until she realized why the girl kept pressing the issue: she was worried about her. After all the crap they'd been through and all the hatred they'd thrown back and forth, Aphrodite was genuinely worried that something would happen to Zoey.

_She's not being mean, she just doesn't want to see anything bad happen. She's just as freaked out as I am. But now that Stevie Rae and the others are involved, everyone seems to think I'm in charge of everything, even though I'm just as lost as the rest of them._ _And if my friends are counting on me and I'm the only one holding all of this together, then I can't let myself fall apart...geez, someone needs to remind me to take a time out the next time a vampyre apocalypse comes to town._

She let out a heavy sigh while Aphrodite curiously watched her get lost in her thoughts.

"What are you thinking?" the blonde asked.

"I'm thinking I need a vacation from life," Zoey groaned, dramatically flopping backwards onto her pillow.

"Shit, I know how to do that," Aphrodite reached over to the nightstand on her side of the bed, grabbing the remote and turning on the flat screen mounted on the wall.

"Aphrodite, we can't stay up. We've got school in a few hours."

"And I've got enough money in my bank account to _buy_ the school, what's your point? Or would you rather just go to sleep and have visions of sugarplum monsters dance through your head?"

Zoey figured she had a point, and didn't say anything more as Aphrodite made herself comfortable under the covers and began flipping through channels.

"Gimme that, I'll find something to watch," Zoey said as she snapped her fingers at the remote. Aphrodite ignored her.

"I'm not going to watch cartoons with you like a snot nosed little kid on a Saturday morning," she said with a scowl.

"Not _everything_ I watch is a cartoon. And besides, all the cool kids watch them anyway."

"Sure, in Bizarro World."

"You're making an awful lot of comic book references tonight, maybe you're just as big a nerd as the rest of us."

"Don't count on it, you're just a negative influence on me."

* * *

Everyone's nerves hovered dangerously on edge the next week at school.

"I don't know, Zoey. I just don't feel right being in her class anymore, you know?" Stevie Rae was saying nervously as she and Zoey walked to English. "Can't we like, turn her in or something?"

"Turn her in for what? And to who?" Zoey started. "Are we going to go to the police and tell them that a snobby teenage psychic says our English teacher has an army of evil vampyres hunting us?"

Stevie Rae frowned.

"I know, I'm just sayin' I almost feel like a sittin' duck the way things are going now."

Zoey nodded in understanding.

"I get it, Stevie Rae. But we may be in way over our heads with all of this. I don't want us to make the first move and escalate things before we have to. And honestly..." Zoey looked over her shoulder- -expecting to see Aphrodite hovering close behind- -and lowered her voice despite the fact that Vision Girl was nowhere in sight. "Aphrodite's visions have been weird since I met her. I'm not entirely sure they're as accurate as she says they are, so Neferet might not even be a threat at all."

Stevie Rae anxiously looked around too, double-checking that the blonde still wasn't anywhere nearby.

"What do you mean her visions have been weird?"

"She says they've been foggy and unclear. She used to see everything exactly as it was going to happen, in crystal clear picture. But nowadays they're more like..." Zoey paused, trying to think of a comparison that would make sense. "It's like reading a book summary on Sparknotes and then taking a test over it. You know the general outline of the story, but you don't know any of the details. And without the details, things can get majorly lost in translation."

"Oh, I get it, I get it," Stevie Rae nodded in a way that made her curls bounce around crazily, then she grinned at Zoey. "Good example, Z! !"

"Thanks," Zoey laughed. "So you see, if Neferet's not a bad guy, I don't want to go charging in and making a huge mess of everything. And if she is a bad guy, I still don't want to go charging in until we've got a solid plan of action against her."

They reached Neferet's classroom. The door was open, and they were able to see that Neferet wasn't in there even before they stepped inside. Damien and the Twins were already in their desks, and the girls sat down around them.

"You know, I've been finding it harder and harder to care about doing homework for this class," Erin said.

"I feel you, Twin. I'm too busy reeling from the fact that my favorite teacher is the Queen Hag from Hell."

Zoey raised an eyebrow as she shoved her backpack underneath her desk.

"You guys trust Aphrodite's vision?" the brunette sounded astonished. "Hell, I didn't think you'd trust her to buy you lunch."

Shaunee dramatically raised a hand to stop Zoey from saying anything more.

"Please, if that hag bitch offers me an apple I'll still give her a place to shove that Snow White shit, but..."

"...She was really worried about you that day, Zoey," Erin finished her Twin's sentence. "I still want to rip her Goldilocks hair right out of her scalp, but the fact that she was concerned about you means that whatever she saw in her vision must have been pretty bad."

"Which means that we should at least consider what she says about her visions with a grain of salt, and proceed with caution," Damien said matter-of-factly.

The bell rang then, and the Nerd Herd felt a collective chill as they knew that the sound meant Neferet would be coming soon.

"Listen guys," Zoey said quickly. "It looks like you all want to assume that Aphrodite's vision was true for now, so just act normally around Neferet. If she really is a big evil hoo-hah we can't let her know we're on to her."

"Got it, chief, " Shaunee said with a wink, and once again Zoey felt the uncomfortable pressure of somehow being elected leader of the Anti-Vampyre Committee.

Right on cue, Neferet breezed into the classroom, impeccably dressed as usual. Her eyes twinkled like mossy green jewels as she took an initial glance over the room. It was probably just Zoey's imagination, but she felt like Neferet's gaze lingered over her a little longer than usual.

_Keep your guard up, Zoey..._

Zoey looked around at Stevie Rae, Damien, Erin, and Shaunee.

_If Neferet tries anything you're the only one that can protect them._

The resolve to defend her friends seemed to give Zoey a burst of courage and strength, but in the back of her mind a tiny little voice was saying _Just don't forget to protect yourself._

The burden of being the only superpowered kid in Broken Arrow was starting to weigh heavily on her. Between keeping her friends and Aphrodite from dealing with any extra problems and the desire to avoid the wrath of the Step-Loser and her shell of a mom, Zoey felt like she was running out of places to turn to for help. Then suddenly, the answer hit her like a slap in the face, so hard and strong that she felt like a complete idiot for not thinking of it ages ago.

"Zoey?"

As usual, Neferet's voice startled Zoey out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Neferet wearing a serene smile, and it was gazing at that smile that once again made it hard for Zoey to believe that Neferet was anything but an amazing teacher and person.

"I trust you did the reading of last night's homework?" Neferet asked, wearing a bemused expression that said the question was a formality and she already knew Zoey had done her homework like the good little student she was.

It was a good sign, it meant that Neferet most likely still saw Zoey as a regular student who knew absolutely nothing about her possibly dark and bloodsucking secret. So Zoey happily obliged, stepping into the role of the teacher's pet to throw Neferet off the trail even more.

"You mean the reading of "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant?" Zoey said with a simpering smile (and feeling incredibly proud of herself for not butchering the name in front of Neferet). "Of course I did!"

Neferet nodded, not at all surprised by Zoey's gold-star behavior. But behind Zoey's smile, she was watching Neferet like a hawk; searching carefully for the smallest hint, the tiniest sign that the teacher was something more sinister than she put on.

"Describe to me some of the themes, Zoey, using examples from the story."

_Ha! I actually know this!_

Seizing the opportunity, Zoey launched into a surprisingly educated discussion which she hoped would convince Neferet (if she needed convincing, that is) that nothing was out of the ordinary.

Apparently, Zoey passed inspection (thanks to the borrowing of some of Damien's fancy words) and Neferet left her alone for the rest of the class period. When the bell rang, she wanted nothing more than to bolt from her seat and out of the room, but in keeping with her advice to the others to act normal, they all took their time leaving with the rest of the students. Stepping out into the hallway, Zoey saw Aphrodite standing against the opposite wall, waiting.

"Everything go alright?" Vision Girl asked stiffly as Zoey and the Nerd Herd walked up to her.

"Well, I'm not dead yet," Zoey answered with a shrug. Aphrodite narrowed her eyes.

"That's not funny, Zo," she said coldly.

"Right, sorry," Zoey mumbled guiltily. Then she turned to address all of her friends.

"Look, I figured out what we need to do next to get a handle on this vampyre/Neferet thing," she said, feeling excitement brimming inside her as her plan started to come together.

"We should go to the House of Night, correct?" Damien asked, lowering his voice so he wouldn't be overheard by the other students in the hallway clamoring to get to class.

"No, not yet," Zoey answered, "We probably will eventually, but first, I need to brush up on my vampyre lore and we all need to be in a place where we can feel safe and at ease in the middle of all this crazy stuff."

Aphrodite and the Nerd Herd looked expectantly at her.

"What place is that, Zoey?" Stevie Rae asked curiously.

Zoey grinned widely, feeling her next words filling her with a tremendous sense of hopefulness and happiness before they even left her mouth.

"We're going to visit my grandma."


	9. The Hard Truth

"Left, Aphrodite! I said left!"

"I don't need your backseat driving, Power Freak! There wasn't a left!"

"It's passenger seat driving, and there wasn't a left because you just drove past it!"

"Well who told your grandma to go live out in the middle of nowhere with all these dirt roads and shit? ?"

"She probably did it so she wouldn't have to deal with people like _you_, Aphro!"

Stevie Rae, Damien, and the Twins sat in the backseat of Aphrodite's Lexus, watching the Blonde-Brunette Duet bicker over directions to Grandma Redbird's lavender farm.

"Um, Zoey?" Stevie Rae piped up, trying to diffuse the tension so Aphrodite wouldn't attempt to drive the car off a cliff just to get Zoey to shut up. "Did you call your grandma yesterday to let her know we were coming?"

Welcoming a change of subject, Zoey turned around in her seat and smiled at Stevie Rae.

"No need. My grandma always knows when I'm coming to visit her. She's awesome that way."

"If she's so awesome then maybe she shouldn't be living in the middle of nowhere," Aphrodite grumbled from behind the steering wheel.

Zoey felt the urge to flip off Aphrodite but didn't bother to come up with a snippy comeback in return.

Eventually, they managed to end up at the small path that led to Grandma Redbird's home without having Zoey and Aphrodite strangle each other.

"You should've just let me drive, we could've been here an hour ago," Zoey said dryly as she closed the car door behind her.

"We can't all fit in your Insect-Mobile, and I'm not letting you touch a single button on my car, therefore I'm the only one who gets to drive," Aphrodite said arrogantly.

The Twins rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"Is it just me or are those two starting to act more and more like an old married couple?" Erin muttered.

"Please, just please. No one in their right mind can stand Aphrodite for an hour, let alone a marriage."

Zoey led the way up the bluffs to her grandmother's house, with the Nerd Herd (Aphrodite included) following behind her.

"Well, I'll say one thing. I'm already feelin' pretty at home here," Stevie Rae's face was lit up like a kid on Christmas as she looked around at the lavender fields, with the plants bowing slightly in a gentle breeze as if to greet the gang's arrival.

"I agree with Stevie Rae," Damien was also looking in awe at his surroundings as the breeze lightly ruffled his brown hair. "It's like something out of a fairy tale."

"It's the magic of Zo's Cherokee-ish heritage," Erin said simply.

Zoey laughed, then maneuvered herself around so she was facing the gang and walking backwards up the hill.

"Aphrodite, do me a favor and behave yourself around my grandma," she said warningly. Aphrodite scowled.

"What do I look like, a Girl Scout?"

"Thank god you're not," Shaunee said with an eye roll.

"Yeah, the last thing we need is you corrupting the youth of America with your Slutty Samoas and Freakishly Thin Mints," Erin added with an evil smile. Shaunee cackled and high-fived Erin.

"Good one, Twin."

"Thank you, Twin."

"Hey, behaving yourself goes for you guys too!" Zoey said sternly, partly irritated by the Twins' instigating and partly irritated that walking backwards had caused her to trip over a rock and almost fall on her butt.

The Twins raised their hands in innocence.

"Don't worry, we'll be good," Shaunee said.

"Just getting it out of our system," Erin said.

They reached the house, and Zoey raised a fist to knock on the door, but it swung open before she got the chance.

"Zoeybird..." Zoey's grandmother stood in the doorway, saying her name like she had waited years to see her.

"Grandma! !" Zoey ran into Grandma Redbird's open arms and hugged her tight, tears coming to her eyes as she was overwhelmed with the feeling that everything would be alright and she had nothing to fear.

"How I've missed you uwetsiageya, my daughter," Grandma Redbird said, smoothing down Zoey's hair like the loving mother she had gone so long without.

Reluctantly, Zoey pulled away and wiped at her eyes, trying to get right down to business before she could lose her focus and get lost in her grandmother's comforting presence forever.

"I've missed you too, Grandma. I brought some of my friends to meet you," she gestured at the gang, pointing to each one of them in turn. "This is Stevie Rae, Erin, Shaunee, Damien, and Aphrodite."

They all gave little waves and cheerful hellos as Grandma Redbird smiled warmly at them, all except Aphrodite, who was staring avidly at the ground beneath her feet.

"Any friends of Zoey's are always welcome here, day or night," Zoey's grandmother stepped out of the way and motioned for them to come inside.

Following Zoey, they all filed in one at a time. Grandma Redbird's gaze traveled curiously over Aphrodite as she walked past, noticing how the girl somehow seemed starkly out of place among the rest of the group.

"Make yourselves comfortable," Grandma said as she joined the others in the cozy little living room.

Already starting to feel at home, the Nerd Herd sat down among the sofas and armchairs while Zoey stood by her grandmother.

"I don't mean to jump right into everything," the brunette said anxiously, "but we've sort of come on important business."

"Oh? What sort of business, Zoeybird?"

"Well...it's a complicated story. It involves me and Aphrodite."

"Aphrodite and I," the blonde airily corrected.

Zoey frowned at her but nevertheless continued.

"She's got powers like I do, Grandma. Aphrodite has visions about the future."

Grandma Redbird looked at Aphrodite in fascination.

"You've been gifted like my Zoey?" she asked.

Aphrodite seemed to fidget nervously under her stare, avoiding her eyes.

"I wouldn't call it a gift," the blonde said. "The last thing I'd want for my birthday is visions of death flashing inside my head. And besides, Zoey is the one with the real power. She's the Sherlock, I'm just the Watson."

"Aphrodite's being modest? ?" Erin whispered teasingly. "Quick, Shaunee, go outside and see if Hell has frozen over."

Zoey gave the Twins a warning glance to remind them of their promise to behave, then moved to sit on the arm of the sofa Aphrodite was parked on.

"Without you I'd probably be a seriously maimed Sherlock, so quit acting like your visions are nothing," Zoey said.

Grandma Redbird looked over all of Zoey's friends and smiled.

"How about some tea before we all get started?" she asked.

Damien grinned, looking very much like a kid in a candy shop.

"That sounds great," he said, accompanied by Stevie Rae's and the Twins' fervent nods.

"Zoeybird, will you help me?" Grandma asked as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Of course!" Zoey hopped off the sofa and followed after her grandmother, signaling for her friends to stay in the living room and relax.

In the small house, the kitchen was far enough from the living room and built in such a way that Zoey and her grandma could talk freely without being heard.

"Are you and your friends in danger, uwetsiageya?" Grandma Redbird asked urgently as they entered the kitchen.

Zoey looked thoughtful, trying to think of a way to answer honestly without upsetting her grandmother.

"Not at the moment, I don't think...Aphrodite's had visions of some stuff, but lately her visions have been unusual and inaccurate. But despite that, I think at some point we _will_ be in danger, which is why we came here. We thought you could help us find out what we're up against."

Grandma Redbird looked apprehensive at first, but then she nodded, understanding that Zoey was safe for the moment. Then she got out the fixings to make tea.

"Your friends are wonderful," she said. "And they will surely be a great help in whatever troubles you may come to face. I'm glad you were able to settle into Broken Arrow."

"Yeah, they're amazing," Zoey said wistfully. "They're the best friends I've ever had."

"That Aphrodite seems like a fine young lady."

Zoey raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Were you and I looking at the same Aphrodite? ?" Zoey said incredulously, then she shook her head. "Nevermind, I shouldn't say that. She definitely takes some getting used to, but I think that deep down she's a nice person...well, when it's convenient for her, at least."

Zoey's grandmother laughed.

"How long have you two known each other?"

Zoey opened up the familiar cabinets to get out cups for the tea.

"About a month and a half," she answered. "I met her on the first day of school. Although back then I wished that I hadn't."

"Life leads us to and from people in ways that we never would have imagined," Grandma Redbird said wisely. "Wait a moment...Aphrodite? The mayor of Tulsa, isn't that the name of his daughter?"

Zoey nodded.

"Yep, that's her."

"I've always heard that she was quite the promising individual," Grandma said, sounding a little confused as to why Zoey mentioned that she had once wished she hadn't met Aphrodite.

Zoey brought her grandmother the teacups as the water started to heat up.

"Then you've only heard what the adults think of her," Zoey clarified.

"Ah, yes. Adults have a tendency to see only what they want to see. What do _you_ think of her?" Grandma Redbird asked, glancing at Zoey.

Zoey wasn't sure why her grandmother had suddenly taken such an interest in Vision Girl, but she spoke her mind anyway.

"She's definitely got flaws, and sometimes she makes me wonder why I even put up with her, but..." Zoey crossed her arms and leaned back against the kitchen counter. "Then I remember the kind of life she's had, with all that pressure to be perfect and the best of the best, plus she tells me her own parents don't even seem to think she's good enough. I'm no human behavior expert, but I think that attitude of hers is just a front to hide all the crap she's been through. I think she's just like the rest of us, all she wants is to prove herself and find someone who will care about her no matter how perfect or imperfect she is."

Grandma Redbird smiled, but there was a deviously child-like twinkle in her eyes, like she knew something Zoey didn't.

"I'm sure you fit that description quite well, Zoeybird."

"...Me? Care about Aphrodite?" Zoey was bewildered.

"Don't you?" Grandma still had an impish expression of amusement on her face. Finally, Zoey's eyes widened comically as she noticed her grandmother's know-it-all look and deciphered the hidden meaning behind her words.

"Whoa whoa whoa! !"

She practically jumped away from the counter and held up her hands in the universal sign of _"Wait just a cereal-lovin' minute!"_

"You think I like Aphrodite? ? Like, _like_ like her? ?" Zoey blurted, her voice rising a few panicked octaves.

"When you've lived as long as I have, you develop a sense for these things, uwetsiageya," Zoey's grandmother said matter-of-factly, ignoring the unadulterated shock on her granddaughter's face.

"Grandma! ! I don't even like girls! And if I did, I definitely wouldn't go for Aphrodite! I mean, she's selfish, and ill-tempered, and spiteful, and pompous..."

_And gorgeous, and incredibly smart, and even prettier when she laughs, and that little half-smile thing she does can be adorable sometimes..._

Zoey gasped as her thoughts had suddenly turned traitorous. Since when did she think that way about Aphrodite? She sometimes still had trouble being in the same room as the blonde, there was no way she could ever like her; 90% of the time it was all she could do to just tolerate her.

"Sorry Grandma," Zoey said with an embarrassed laugh, "but you're way off on this one. I think you're losing your touch."

Grandma Redbird's knowing smile didn't falter as she poured the tea.

"I never lose my touch, Zoeybird."

_Ah, hell._

Zoey knew that that much was true, but she told herself otherwise as she loaded the teacups onto a tray.

_Aphrodite is just my friend, and not a very good one at that. There's nothing going on between us._

They returned to the living room, where Zoey passed out the drinks as Grandma Redbird took a seat in one of the armchairs.

"Reminds me of those stuffy high-society parties mother used to drag me to," Aphrodite said as Zoey handed her a cup.

"You'll find that my grandma is the farthest thing from stuffy," Zoey said, careful to not make it too obvious that she was avoiding eye contact with the blonde.

Once everyone was settled down (and Zoey was seated next to Stevie Rae, who was incidentally the farthest one away from Aphrodite) Grandma Redbird started up the conversation.

"Now, Zoey, tell me what's been going on."

Zoey took a deep breath, preparing to launch into her story.

"Alright, well, it was the second week of school. I was starting to settle in, making friends with Stevie Rae and the gang, and everything was going fine until- -"

"Until I showed up," Aphrodite interrupted dryly.

"It's not like anything that's happened has been your fault, Aphrodite," Zoey said, before turning back to her grandmother. "Aphrodite told me she had a vision of me getting attacked by some kind of creature, but she didn't know what it was. When her vision came true...it was a vampyre."

"Vampyre? ?" Grandma Redbird gasped.

"That's why we came here, to ask you about vampyres. I know you taught me when I was little, but it was such a long time ago, so..."

Zoey's grandmother nodded in understanding, then began explaining to the eagerly listening Nerd Herd.

"Vampyres are humans who have been Marked by Nyx, the goddess of night. During adolescence these Marked humans are called fledglings, and are distinguished by a crescent moon tattoo in the middle of their foreheads. These fledglings go through a series of changes, and unfortunately, not everyone survives the change...but the ones that do are born again as vampyres, something more than human. They are filled with a power, grace, beauty, and wisdom that no human could ever achieve."

She frowned, looking confused, before she continued.

"But vampyres are not the macabre predators that the movies have made them out to be. In fact, you'll find that many of them are the most civilized individuals you could ever hope to meet. They feed on blood, yes, but not solely; and it is given willingly by a human, not taken forcibly. As such, not very many people know of the existence of vampyres, because once the intricate tattoos they are recognizable by are covered they can blend quite well into the human community. A vampyre's connection to Nyx is powerful and deep, and their goddess would never abide by the hunting of humans. Zoey, to say you were attacked, unprovoked, by a vampyre- -"

"What color are their tattoos?" Aphrodite suddenly interrupted.

Zoey's eyes widened, remembering the pictures she and Aphrodite had seen when they were researching the House of Night. She looked expectantly at her grandma like the rest of the group.

"A brilliant sapphire, like the early blue of the night sky," Grandma answered.

"That's it!" Zoey leapt excitedly from the couch, almost causing poor Stevie Rae to spill her tea all over her cowboy jeans. "The vampyres that were after us had red tattoos!"

"And they were definitely _less_ than civilized," Vision Girl added. "Filled with power, grace, and beauty they were not."

Grandma Redbird still looked utterly confused.

"Red vampyres...I have never heard of such a thing," she said. "If this is what you are facing, then it's something entirely new."

"Great," Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Our lives are starting to turn into a remake of Silent Hill and we still don't have any idea what we're up against."

Despite the tension, Zoey couldn't help but smirk at Aphrodite.

"Really? Silent Hill? I'm really starting to believe you're secretly a nerd."

"No, I'm just stuck with nerds for friends," the blonde retorted with a pointed glare.

Zoey's grandmother smiled at their comical banter, then went back to business.

"I'm afraid that I can offer very little help, Zoeybird. Vampyres with red tattoos that hunt humans...this is completely unheard of. But I _do _know how you may be able to find the answers you seek," she said.

She rose from her chair, majestically commanding the entire room with her presence.

"Zoey, Aphrodite...when the sun sets today, you should walk along the bluffs as the last rays of light shine. I've always told you that your powers were a sign that you were meant for a great destiny, Zoey, and I do not believe you are expected to face it alone. Whatever power granted you your control over the elements must be keeping a close watch on you, and the bluffs will give you the strongest chance of getting in touch with it and having your questions answered."

Zoey's jaw almost dropped. In light of the conversation that had just happened back in the kitchen, having her grandmother send her and Aphrodite for a sunset stroll through the flowers didn't exactly seem like the most goal-oriented plan.

"I understand, Grandma. We'll go," Zoey forced a smile and made a mental note to scold her grandmother later.

"Why the bluffs?" Erin asked, being the first of the Nerd Herd to speak up.

"Sunset is a magical time, Erin," Grandma answered kindly. "The veils between worlds are the thinnest then. And out in the bluffs, surrounded by the power of nature and the voice of the flowers, ancient spirits can come to visit. They see what we cannot, and if anyone will be able to lead Zoey down the path she seeks, it will be them."

Erin and Shaunee stared in awe at Grandma Redbird, fascinated by her mystifying ways and ancient history.

"So we just hang around here until the sun sets?" Aphrodite asked skeptically.

"You are all more than welcome to stay here, Aphrodite. And there is plenty to do to pass the time," Grandma Redbird said. Then she turned to Damien, Stevie Rae, and the Twins. "After all the negative energy you've been dealing with, I feel it would help to have your spirits cleansed by the healing power of nature. Who would like to go out and collect lavender with me?"

As expected, the Nerd Herd jumped out of their seats in excitement, eager to spend more time with Zoey's grandma. She smiled and led them throughout the house to gather supplies, talking easily to them all as if they were her own grandchildren. A few minutes later they eventually followed her outside like little baby ducks, making Zoey and Aphrodite the only ones left in the house. The blonde rose from her place on the sofa and moved to stand in front of Zoey.

"You didn't tell her about Neferet," Aphrodite said. It wasn't a question, but Zoey answered anyway.

"No, I didn't want to worry her anymore than I had to. The vampyres were bad enough, I don't need her knowing that my English teacher may lead an army of them and possibly plans to kill me."

Slowly, Aphrodite nodded in understanding, and Zoey continued.

"And thanks for not being, well, you know, _you_ in front of my grandma."

Vision Girl glanced down at the floor, avoiding Zoey's eyes.

"I like your grandma," she said quietly. "She's nice. I wish I had someone like her in my jacked up family."

"...Well, we could always come back here. Ever since the Step-Loser joined my family and my mom practically became a stranger to me, my grandma's been my only refuge. You and I are kind of the same with the messed up parents, so...just say the word, and we'll come visit whenever you want."

Aphrodite didn't say anything, and Zoey expected her to shift into Bitch Mode and bite her head off for even thinking that they would spend more time together than was necessary, but instead, the blonde smiled.

"Sounds fun," she said.

Zoey felt her heart give an unexpected and unwarranted flutter, which of course freaked her right the hell out.

_Knock it off, Zoey! It's only because Grandma said what she did, now you've got all these ideas in your head. You don't have a crush on Aphrodite, she's the bane of your existence. Okay, well, she hasn't been all that bad lately, but still. Aphrodite equals bad news._

"I don't suppose you're going to go out and pick flowers with everyone, are you?" Zoey said, trying to distract herself from her thoughts.

"Are you kidding? Do I look like a Disney princess?" Aphrodite sneered. "But I guess it wouldn't hurt to watch the commoners do menial labor."

She headed towards the front door, and Zoey followed.

"So you're just supervising?"

"I'm supervising."

_...Alright, _Zoey thought. _So she's funny sometimes. And she can be nice when she wants to. And yes, she's incredibly pretty. But hello, anyone with eyes can see that! It doesn't mean anything! Stevie Rae and the Twins are funny, nice, and pretty, and you don't see me worrying about them! Aphrodite is no different!_

Zoey mentally grumbled to herself, ignoring the uncomfortable twisting in her stomach.

_So why do I have to try so hard to convince myself of that?_

* * *

"Dammit Z, I did not sign up to get this flower shit all over my jeans!"

The sun was starting to set, and the Power Duo had barely begun their mystical trek through the lavender fields before Aphrodite started complaining.

"Aphrodite, if your house has a big screen in every room, I'm sure you've got a washer and dryer lying around somewhere," Zoey said dryly.

"How long do we have to stay out here?" the blonde complained some more.

"Until something finds us and tells us what we need to hear," Zoey said with a sigh, not exactly sure what she was looking for herself.

"I don't know about you, but I'm getting real tired of stuff 'finding' us."

The sky above them was painted with brilliant oranges and reds, and for the first time in forever Zoey was able to enjoy a sunset without worrying about vampyres slinking out of the shadows. As it turned out, Aphrodite was thinking the same thing.

"I have to admit, it's really pretty out here, though," Vision Girl said, looking up at the sky. "You know, without bloodsucking losers running around everywhere."

As they walked aimlessly through the field of flowers, Zoey made the mistake of turning to look at Aphrodite, and then everything went downhill.

Despite the fact that the blonde was giving death glares to the ground that had dared to soil her zillion dollar designer jeans, she looked radiant as the day's last rays of light shone down on her. The girl had always been unfairly gorgeous, but out in the sunset, surrounded by the soft purple of the flowers, she seemed to glow with some kind of otherworldly beauty that made Zoey understand why she would be named after the goddess of love.

_Crap..._

Aphrodite's blue eyes, narrowed dangerously as she aggressively wiped flower pollen off her clothes, glittered like ocean waves as the light from the falling sun reached her, and it wasn't until Aphrodite cursed under her breath and continued walking that Zoey realized she had been staring at her for an unusually long time.

_Crap crap crap..._

"Alright, your grandma is cool and everything, but the next time she suggests a nature hike in the dark I'm going home," Aphrodite said sardonically.

Zoey laughed halfheartedly, trying hard to fight the nervous feeling of trepidation that was getting stronger and stronger inside of her. It felt like a strange combination of an icy chill and a warm flush was spreading throughout her body, reaching into the deepest corners of her mind and willing her to listen to what it had to say. She tried her best to ignore it, to shut out the little whisper that was cloying at the back of her consciousness because she just didn't want to believe it. But eventually, Zoey found that its power was just too overwhelming, and she dejectedly resigned herself to giving up the fight and facing the truth of what was happening.

_Well...hell._

She liked Aphrodite. Like, _like_ liked her.

But before she even had a chance to sort through the newest WTF moment in her life, a strange breeze blew around them, commanding all of Zoey's attention.

"Did you hear that?" she asked.

"It was the wind," Aphrodite answered.

"No, listen..."

The girls waited, but the wind didn't come again. The crimsons and oranges in the sky were fading to deep blues and blacks, and it was getting harder and harder to see as the darkness of night fell around them.

"Well, at least we can still make out the light of your grandma's house from way out here. I guess that means we won't get _totally_ lost," Aphrodite said with a scowl.

"Shh! Listen!" Zoey hissed.

The sun had fallen completely beneath the horizon, and the last rays of sunset were gone. Stars started twinkling overhead in the clear, country sky, and then the odd wind that Zoey had been so focused on suddenly whipped up again.

~_Zoooooeyyyy..._

Zoey's eyes widened in surprise as the ethereal voice called out to her.

"The wind...it's calling my name..." she said.

Aphrodite rolled her eyes, although Zoey couldn't tell in the dark.

"Okay Pocahontas, how about a reality check?" Vision Girl said spitefully.

Zoey was about to reach out in an attempt to smack the girl upside her sarcastic blonde head, but the wind spiraled past them once more.

~_Aphroditeeee..._

As Zoey's eyes began to adjust to the darkness, she was able to make out the shock on Aphrodite's face as the wind continued to swirl and twist around them like a playful otter.

"Aha! You heard it too!" the brunette said triumphantly.

Then the bluffs began to melt away, the grassy hills and lavender flowers dissolving like some sort of surreal dream. The stars above dimmed like the flames of a candle before they extinguished themselves entirely, leaving behind nothing but a foreboding darkness in the nighttime sky. As the girls watched in astonishment, the world around them disappeared, plunging them into an empty and total blackness.


End file.
